


Akuzusume

by Ascella_Star, SquigglySky



Category: Magic Kaito, 名探偵コナン | Detective Conan | Case Closed
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst, Mischief, Multi, Not Canon Compliant, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Slow Burn, Timeline What Timeline, timeline is just a mild inconvenience
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-04-26
Updated: 2018-04-30
Packaged: 2018-06-03 07:00:28
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 13
Words: 34,328
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6601330
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ascella_Star/pseuds/Ascella_Star, https://archiveofourown.org/users/SquigglySky/pseuds/SquigglySky
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When Shinichi's life is falling apart after a devastating reunion with Ran, he turns to Kaito for help, and with Pandora's Aid, he's able to have a new start.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prologue: Return for the Moment.

**Author's Note:**

> Maybe, and just maybe, back in the day you read on FF some really good stories by an author caller Tomyo-Torou. Unfortunately, she left some of her stories unfinished… this is one of those. 
> 
> I asked if I could adopt and finish this one… she said yes, and so here we are. 
> 
> The first five or six chapters are mostly hers (I’ve been editing some things and moving some others), after that… you’ll have to deal with my own brand of craziness.
> 
> I really hope you'l enjoy this :)

There was a stab of pain, not as strong as usual, so it was probably caused by the headache the renowned detective of the East, Kudou Shinichi was experiencing at the moment. The teen barely held back an annoyed sigh. He had been waiting for a while because for once, he wasn't late.

Shinichi had been begging Haibara for an antidote, even if it wasn't a permanent one. There was no way she would be able to create one so fast, at least not when she had to recreate the damn drug in the first place. Maybe that was what was annoyed him most, that just when he managed to convince her to give him one, his date was taking her sweet time to arrive.

 _"Shinichi!"_ a voice called his attention, and as he turned around, his heart skipped a beat, she was finally here. The girl stopped in front of him, panting a bit.

"I'm sorry I'm late, dad was heading out drinking..." she said. Shinichi nodded, chuckling a bit as he knew how the old man could be. The two stood there awkwardly for a while, looking at nothing and at the same time, at everything, but each other.

"Um... Ran..." Shinichi began, then he sighed, nervously scratching the back of his neck. How the hell was he supposed to tell her what he felt? He implied it once, but was there any way for him to convey his feelings without damaging his immense pride? Well, no, there didn't seem to be. Ran smiled.

"It's... it's about what you said... in London isn't it?" Ran asked, blushing a bit. Shinichi slowly nodded, feeling embarrassed.

"Y-yeah… pretty much..." he answered. Why the hell was he acting like some shy boy trying to confess for the first time? It really wasn't the first time for god’s sake, and he wasn't a shy boy, that's for sure.

"Can you wait for me?" Ran suddenly asked, catching Shinichi's attention.

"Uhm yeah but, is there... something wrong?" Shinichi asked, a bit confused, feeling a strange sense of Deja-vu as if he had already heard those words before.

"Well, you know… Dad…" Ran was smiling a bit shyly. Shinichi laughed.

"I understand." He said smiling sincerely and maybe a bit shyly too.

"Don’t worry Ran, I'll wait for you, it doesn’t matter for how long." he said and she smiled again, however Shinichi noticed how this smile seemed slightly forced.

"Thanks, I appreciate it... so, how long are you staying this time?" she asked. Shinichi sighed.

"Just for a few hours... I'm sorry, but I think the case is moving towards an end, but in the meantime…” He looked down, truly sorry. Ran nodded.

"I see...” she was quiet for a few more minutes, then she added “we can spend these hours together then, right?" she asked.

"Yes, that we can do." he smiled brightly at her stepping to walk just beside her. However, the moment they were near to tropical land, he was assaulted by all the memories he had here, from the moment he was separated from Ran, the moment he was drugged and shrunk, to the time when he had, as Conan dragged her across the whole play land to save her from a murderer as she was one of the only two witnesses.

Shinichi couldn't help, but wonder what would have happened if he had never followed the men in black. Maybe He would have continued to live his life as Kudou Shinichi, the arrogant, know-it-all boy. Shinichi was sure he had changed since then, because he now was living under the perspective of a child, having the chance to see everything from a different view.

When he glanced again to look at her, he noticed that Ran wasn't smiling, and seemed to be lost in her own thoughts. Shinichi decided to gain again her attention, so he bought her a plush bear; he just hopped it helped her to clear her mind of the bad memories or whatever she was thinking about. She smiled again, but it was still forced, and no matter how much Shinichi thought about it, he couldn't figure out why she wasn't sincerely smiling like she used to.

Shinichi knew he had been in and out of her life for the last year and now at the start of their last year at high school, he still did not have a concrete answer to if he was ever actually returning to himself in a permanent basis. He guessed that Ran was obviously thinking something along the same lines, and was probably worried about him.

"Ran? Are you okay?" he asked. Ran looked at him, then she nodded.

"Yes, of course, why are you asking?" She asked back.

"Well, you didn't look all that happy to be here..." Shinichi said.

"Oh, but I am." Ran answered curtly, however she wasn't smiling anymore.

* * *

 

A yawn, followed by the snap of fingers, was the only warning everybody in the classroom received before confetti appeared out of nowhere.

A pair of cheerful, dark violet eyes that belonged to Ekoda High’s no. 1 joker and troublemaker, Kuroba Kaito, were following his hands and the book in front of him instead of looking at the blackboard where the teacher was trying her best to teach; said troublemaker was trying out a new trick that would certainly lead to many bad things for the rest of the class, or in Kaito’s words his 'guinea pigs', he loved pranking them! Well he loved pranking everyone except a girl with long, reddish, black hair. Kaito feared her as much as he feared fish… almost. After all, no matter how much magic tricks he did, nothing came close to her real magic. He really hated having a witch in the class.

The teen suddenly grinned again, something funny crossing his mind. This teen just like the previously mentioned detective of the East, had a second identity, although it consisted mostly on stealing gems and whatever other nice, and expensive things he might fancy. Kuroba Kaito   was also known as the most wanted, famous and arrogant thief to ever exist: the one and only Kaitou KID.

"Kuroba-kun, are you listening?" the teacher asked. Kaito looked up.

"Yes, of course I am, I always Am." he said, smirking. Although, for once he wasn't listening, he was busy thinking about said detective. There was something about that tiny boy-once a teenager that unnerved the usually calm thief. Those ever-watchful blue eyes, that smirk when he solved one of KID's tricks or riddles. And those soccer kicks. Yes, you get the 8 year old brat angry and he'd break a tree with just one kick. It scared Kaito whenever he thought about how it would be if the kid, in full size would use those shoes. If a ball didn't cut stone, then the shoes weren't working.

However, Kaito often found himself searching out the detective, just looking forward to the appearance of the shrunken teen. Nothing could compare to the feelings Kaito get when he was almost cornered, but also the elation he felt while cornering the child on a roof, wind messing with the smallest' hair and making everything so exiting...

Just by thinking on the shrunken detective and a heist made Kaito unusually exited, especially because he had another heist scheduled in two days; this time he was going after a red gem called Ember's Heart. It was rather pretty, and it was big and red, so Kaito wasn't about to let it slip past him, it could, after all, it could be the one he was searching for, Pandora.

 _"I'll find you...Pandora...”_ he thought while looking out of the window. Oh yes, the next heist would be just as thrilling, but dangerous. Those men would be there without a doubt, to shot him down when he caught the gem. So getting chased by the small detective out on to the roof was out of the question. He wouldn't endanger the child's life in his the search of Pandora, after all he prided himself in his non-violent rule.

And then, there was Hakuba. The annoying detective two seats behind him that was always watching the magician. Kaito knew that although he had no proof, Hakuba had caught on to him being KID; however because of this Kaito was always able to escape just in front of him, and he loved it. Kaito sighed, feeling the British detective's eyes in his neck just as he had been doing ever since this day started. After another five minutes of Hakuba’s staring, Kaito had enough and activated a smoke bomb, and during the commotion, he dyed the detective's hair a bright purple just to take revenge.

 _"Take that stupid Tantei-san."_ Kaito thought as he settled down in his chair again, but not before he had completely changed the teacher's outfit from casual clothes to a tight maid outfit. The teacher ran screaming out as most of the boys suffered a severe case of nose bleeding. Everyone knew it was Kaito’s doing, however the teen just about never did something like that to the teachers, so they thought something was off.

Said magician was now staring out of the window with a thoughtful look on his face, his thoughts wandering over to Kudou Shinichi, the more grown up form of the detective that seemed to always figure out his tricks and escape routes. Kaito suddenly grinned in a silly way when he pictured the teen detective in the same maid outfit and with an even darker blush than the one his teacher wore before she ran out. Kaito’s grin grew even more to before he started laughing manically, knowing he'd have a lot of fun doing that, even though he knew he'd never get away alive if he did it. It was very interesting idea nonetheless and Kaito wanted to do it the more he knew he wouldn't be allowed to.

The class eyed him with some worry, mostly for themselves. Kaito was in a good mood, a too good mood, and if they were right, he would let it out on them later. As another teacher came by and told them to have a self-study, Kaito continued to cackle as his thoughts went to the detective being found by Hakuba, as well as that annoying Osakan detective and the task force. Oh the sight. Kaito knew that KID would officially be black listed by not only Kudou Shinichi, and probably all of the police in Tokyo, but Hattori Heiji too, yeah, the detective had too many friends on the right side of the law. But Kaito couldn't care less, it was actually so tempting that he did it to Aoko without knowing it, and he was still laughing his head off.

 _"Now I can't wait until Tantei-kun regains his body, I'm going to have so much fun!"_ he thought, and Kaito continued to laugh until his childhood friend Aoko slammed a map in his face.

 

 


	2. Ember's Heart

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey! thanks for your comments and your Kudos!
> 
> I hope you enjoy this chapter as well :)

Conan sighed, dragging himself out of bed. It was Sunday morning, and fortunately there was no school today. The detective boys were all busy for the day, so there was no one to talk to, except Ran and maybe Haibara; Uncle Kogoro was lying in his bed, suffering from the resultant hangover for his second night out in a row, meaning there was little to no chance there would be a case for them at all. All in all it was going to be a pretty lazy day.

The shrunken teen opened the door while yawning. He had returned early last night after the antidote had expired and he ended up a child again. Conan shuffled over and entered the bathroom. He had been thinking, during the few hours he laid awake, about the reunion with Ran on Friday. He could tell that something had been off, from the moment they met until they parted ways.

Conan walked over to the sink and pulled his toothbrush out of the cup. Think about it, Ran was unusually serious with him and looked a bit bored. Right before Conan fell asleep, he realized that maybe, just maybe she wasn't thinking so much about him anymore. It stung, but Conan knew that getting depressed wasn't going to help; but, if he was right, then Kudou Shinichi was losing one of his last hopes in this world.

His thoughts deviated from his date with Ran just as he stopped to rinse his teeth, he just remembered the note he saw in the newspaper yesterday while hiding at Agasa's house: KID’s new heist note. Something sparked within Conan…. something about that ever so elusive thief made him look forward to the heists, look forward to the cat and mouse chase. And maybe Conan was reading too much into it, but he had come to really cherish those small moments when he could act like himself and just loose himself into chasing KID without any worries in the world.

"Annoying thief…" Conan muttered when he noticed that he was, once again, thinking too much about KID; As he stuck his toothbrush again into his mouth, he also realised that he had being doing that a lot lately. However, it wasn't the thief himself what annoyed Conan, at least not so much anymore, but the fact that Conan found himself thinking about him whenever his mind wasn't preoccupied with murders or the Black Organization.

"Good morning Conan-kun." Conan jumped at the sound of a cheerful voice and turned to meet its owner.

"Ah… Ran-neechan! G-good morning!" he greeted her as she came in. The boy moved a bit to the side as the teen came over to check her make up.

"I'll be heading out with Sonoko okay? Just wake up dad whenever you feel like it, it's not like he deserves to sleep in anyway." she sounded a bit grumpy at the last part, but Conan forced himself to smile, ignoring his wish to run and hide.

"Okay!" he said, but before he could even ask her about dinner, she was already gone. Conan sighed, she had been heading out a lot lately and Conan couldn't see why she would want to hang out with Sonoko almost every day.

Conan then saw his reflection in the mirror. It was the start of the third year of high school and Kudou Shinichi was still absent, and no matter how much Conan wanted to come back, it wasn't possible yet, nor anytime soon. At this rate, he might never be able to finish school, and that would definitely hurt Shinichi's pride. Conan put the toothbrush away as he finished up, and when his thoughts went from his depressing life to the thief again, Conan slammed his head against the wall on purpose.

"Stop popping up into my head all the time, stupid thief!" he groaned before he turned around. He knew that the only way to fix this, was to do something KID related so that he wouldn't have to find himself unconsciously thinking about him all the time. At least he was lucky in that regard, today was KID's heist.

Conan entered the living room, and noticed the breakfast on the table. His stomach grumbled and he rushed to the table. The shrunken detective then grabbed the newspaper and, when he saw the headers, a small chuckle escaped his lips.

"And again, KID has stolen first page…" he then turned to the page within the paper so he could read the complete article.

"Oh yeah, it was the “Ember's Heart” wasn't it? He really doesn't go for the low profiled ones…" Conan muttered as he turned his attention to the food. It was no use  to dwell too much into it now, he had already deciphered the code and relayed the information to the police on early Friday as Kudou Shinichi, while waiting for Haibara to give him the antidote, however when they asked him if he was attending, he told them he will not be available that day.

_"Well, it's still a lot of time until the heist, might as well just head over to_ _the_ _professor_ _’s or something to wait..."_ a mischievous grin appeared in his face while laying down his chopsticks.

"But before that, I have to wake up Occhan." he stated aloud, smirking to himself; he decided to wait with it till after breakfast, as he wanted to make sure he was completely full before he got thrown out of the front door.

_“Perhaps_ _I can pick up the newly enhanced shoes from the_ _Hakase_ _too."_ he thought gleefully, looking forward to seeing again Kaitou KID's nervous faces every time Conan kicked a soccer ball his way. Conan loved seeing flinch, as it was the only way KID usually got nervous enough to let something slip from his poker face.

 

* * *

 

Out on a rooftop, Conan looked out to the sky, checking out KID's possible escape routes. However right now, he was kind of regretting even coming. The wind was a tad bit too hard, enough that even KID might have trouble trying to escape by glider. Said wind also helped Conan feel that it was cold outside, really, really cold.

"Damn, it just had to be cold today..." he muttered. When the child turned and made his way to the door, he stopped in his tracks, feeling suddenly watched. Immediately, he spun around, looking for the source of his discomfort and just barely seeing the glimpse of a dark figure.

"KID? No... That was someone else… someone who is not supposed to be here at all..." he quietly murmured before quickly going back to the building. He wasn't risking his life out there, but he didn't want the thief to risk his either, so he pulled out one of the KID cards he had in his pockets and a pen; after writing something down on it, he quickly fastened it to the door before leaving the place entirely.

Come to think about it, up until today he still doesn’t know why he always keeps the cards KID shots at him.

Brushing that thought aside, he focused again in the upcoming event. He was really looking forward to the aftermath of the heist.

 

* * *

 

 

Conan was eyeing the gem in the casing, while the inspector standing by its side was ranting into the tiny microphone hanging from his right ear. It was obvious they were all dancing to KID’s tune, which only meant that today was one of those days when Conan regretted not taking with him some popcorn and just sit in the side-lines to enjoy the show; there was no way KID would be caught tonight. At least that's what Conan thought, unlike Nakamori-keibu, who obviously had his mind set only on capturing KID.

_“As if he can do much anyway..."_ Conan thought, musing over what was KID going to do today. It wasn't as if it was any harder than usual, because at this rate, even Conan himself could have stolen the gem by now if he wanted to, and the taskforce would be oblivious about it, but he wasn't a criminal, and he was nowhere near aiding one.

Suddenly, Nakamori yelled some new orders, and then a few more before he stopped himself to take a breath. How was he able to yell all that and barely be out of breath, Conan didn't know, nor did he want to. He must admit that it wasn't interesting trying to figure out how the inspector's brain worked, because most times, it didn't seem to even be plugged in… Like now, for example.

"Get me his location!" Nakamori yelled to the radio, the order followed by a string of really creative curses. Conan got as close as he could without being obtrusive so he could clearly hear what the underlings, or as Conan dubbed them, ‘Nakamori’s puppies', were saying. Conan inwardly face palmed himself for even giving them a name; it was so like KID to give a nickname to everyone, and to emulate that, was a serious kick to the shrunken detective's pride.

"He's in the main lobby!"

"No, he's in the South corridor!"

"But he is in the North corridor as well!"

"KID has appeared in the Northwest lobby!"

"The thief has entered the west corridor and is running towards the innermost chamber!"

Nakamori was going crazy with his task force officers’ sight reports of the thief, especially since he knew there was no way he could be everywhere at once, he wasn't that good. So, where was he?

"Damn it KID!" he yelled before yanking a random officer aside.

"Find out what the hell is going on! Find out where KID is!" Nakamori growled. The officer managed to nod before running away, more out of fear than anything. After a little while, there was still no clue as of the location of the ever so slippery phantom thief. Conan's lips twitched upwards.

_"Of course, only Nakamori-keibu wouldn't realize by now where KID really_ _is_ _,_ _and_ _with_ _Hakuba_ _out_ _of_ _the_ _picture…"_ Conan thought somewhat amused and, as he waited patiently for the thief to reveal himself, he powered up his sneakers.

"Where the hell are you KID?" Nakamori roared after another five minutes of fruitless search, finally having enough of this. Conan couldn't help the amusement he felt as devious grin appeared out of nowhere, hovering over the glass casing of the gem.

"Right behind you." A voice said softly, a whisper carried to the inspectors left ear like a caress. Nakamori quickly spun around, and gaped. Right above the showcase for the gem he had said he was after, KID was merrily floating.

"What the- KID!" Nakamori yelled. KID just smirked.

"You’re getting slower Keibu-san, I've been here the whole time." he said, shaking his finger at the inspector, never losing his smirk. Nakamori's face went red in anger before growling and lunging for the thief. Said thief just disappeared into the air, making the inspector stop. There was no trace of KID ever being there so, where was he? Dread filled him, as he slowly directed his gaze to the glass casing.

"THE GEM IS GONE!" he roared, starting to look around furiously. KID's laughter made the inspector turn towards the windows, just as Conan grabbed his belt, smirking at the thief. A soft hiss preceded the soccer ball that the child let fall to the floors he calculated speed, object and impact; once done this, he kicked the ball, aiming to take KID’s smirk off his face. KID's eyes widened for just a millisecond before ducking quite clumsily.

"Now now tantei-kun, you shouldn't be randomly kicking soccer balls in a room like this." he said, placing a hand on his hip, using the other one to shake a finger at him, in a perfect imitation of a scolding mother. However, Conan could see that the thief had nervousness concealed in his onl barely visible eye. This made Conan narrow his own.

"That’s not something I want to hear from you." he stated and instead of kicking a new ball in KID’s general direction, he just sent him a sickly sweet smile. "But you know” he continued in a deceptive conversational tone, “Agasa-Hakase powered these up for me just for today, aren't they strong?" he asked innocently. KID's eyes were still holding some of the earlier kick’s fear. It was obvious he noticed the upgrade.

"Such things should be confiscated!” KID said in a mock outraged voice; turning his attention to the inspector he continued while a devious smirk appeared on his face “Nakamori-keibu, you're going too easy on _little_ tantei-kun here!” Conan's left eye twitched at the heavy undertone of the word ‘little’ _._ It wasn’t really his fault that he was shorter than average children his age. Add to that the fact that he wasn't even a child…

"You... are so dead…" Conan muttered as he 'magically' pulled out another soccer ball and sent it in the thief's direction, making sure to calculate where the thief would likely escape to. The thief obviously hadn't planned for it to go that way as the ball just barely touched the thief's nose before he abruptly stopped, frozen to the spot. The thief was clearly not liking the outcome of this.

"It seems I missed... by inches." Conan mused, a tiny smirk playing on his face. Hearing this, KID gave him a fake, teary-eyed look.

"How horrible of you! Are you trying to kill me?" he asked in a pathetic, dramatic, hurt voice. Conan made a show as if considering it, then he grinned.

"Well… I did aim for your head, and with the strength, and speed I calculated, I could've taken your head off… but I knew you'd manage to dodge anyway." Conan said, his last statement accompanied by a dismissive wave of the hand. The task force eyed the child with thinly veiled fear. They'd never met a child that could stand up to KID and nearly decapitate him at the same time. It was almost more frightening than Nakamori when he was on his worst. KID sniffed in a faked, heartbroken way.

"You shouldn't be allowed to hold such items Tantei-kun! I think I need to talk with that pretty guardian of yours... or should I call her your girlfriend?" KID teased, though he still seemed wary of Conan's newer shoes. Conan answered this with a heated glare.

"Don't you dare! And she's not my girlfriend, damnit!" he answered in an irritated tone. KID just smirked before taking out the gem he had previously hidden in his inner pocket.

"Well, I still have what I came for, so I bid you all farewell for now." he said before he bowed, and disappeared in a puff of smoke, just as most of the task force ran forward, throwing themselves to where KID was last seen. Conan merely raised an eyebrow. There was no way to catch him now; everybody knows that the moment KID makes his disappearing act, he is as good as gone.

But… there was something off. KID usually likes to show off, to make everything into a magic show, today however, KID had come, taken the gem, avoided his soccer balls and left.

_"_ _What_ _the fuck is up with him?"_ Conan asked himself, but couldn't find an answer.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (Feedback is greatly appreciated)


	3. Pandora

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I completely blame my time writing/reading magical girls for the changes made in this episode....
> 
> Again, thanks for your comments and your Kudos, they seriously make me smile when I see them in my mail :)

"You'll never catch me!" KID's laughing voice filled the room, and seemingly the whole building. Outside, judging by the loud cheering crowds, it seemed that KID’s fans had heard this statement it as well.

"KID!" Nakamori-keibu roared, yelling orders at the Task Force members and cursing in between. He couldn’t believe that the thief had done it again, and now he was gone. Conan sighed, deciding that he might as well leave now before KID’s words sink in and the keibu realized that the soccer balls he had set off after the thief, could have not only wrecked the place, but also kill the thief.

No one was prepared for a window to suddenly shatter as a gun shoot rang through the whole room. Conan looked up, having now realized just why KID seemed to act so differently this time around. What he saw, shocked him. KID was up there, hanging from a thin rope, but with a pain filled visage, if the blood on his jacket and his suddenly grim expression were any indication.

"KID!" Conan yelled startling the thief, who in that moment realized that he was hanging right in line of sight for the sniper to shoot at him again. He grabbed the rope and started to climb up with surprising easiness for one who had just been shot, and again he was gone in a puff of smoke.

Conan stood there for what seemed like an eternity but was actually just a few minutes. Half of him was in shock, the other was utterly disgusted. Someone had dared to fire at the thief again, and this time they had actually managed to hit home. The wound looked horrible, and the expression on KID’s face when he realized his position still haunted Conan. It was a look of absolute terror and pain.

Nakamori threw himself over the radio ordering every officer in range to get their asses moving and find out who the hell fired at KID.

_"It's obvious that whoever shot him, is not there anymore…_ _Maybe_ _I’ll come back tomorrow to see if the police overlooked any clue regarding KID’s shooter, no point in looking now with the task force running around all over the place…”_ Conan thought to himself as he finally turned and left, the only things on his mind were the thief's pained expression and his welfare.

Because of the recent events, and because of the resulting chaos, nobody noticed a nearby case that, at one point held a really pretty crystal gem, now was housing what clearly was a fake.

 

* * *

 

 

Conan was annoyed. There wasn't even a chase today, the thief wasn't acting like his usual self, he got shot and even then he managed to escape with the gem. Strangely enough, what bothered him most was that he was more worried about the thief than he was willing to admit. The child was sitting in his house’s backyard garden… well in Kudou Shinichi's house backyard garden. He was lost in thoughts of gems, blood, pain and thieves barely hanging on thin threads.

"And he just had to go and disappear like that! And then I had to go and retrieve the damn card I left for him trying to warn him of the suspicious shadow before Hakuba found it…! And then he had to get himself shot too! What an idiot!"

Conan would have continued to silently sulk and mutter some more to himself if not for a voice that suddenly interrupted him, "A child shouldn't curse that much!" Conan jumped, spinning around trying to find the source of said voice.

"K-KID?" Conan half stuttered. Before him, still clad in his white suit, with a half covered moon shining at his back and giving him that ethereal look he always managed to pull, stood the smirking thief; however on closer inspection, something was off. It could have been the barely seen stress lines around his eyes, or the bloodstains on his usually pristine white jacket that gave it away. Especially since it looked like there was more blood there than earlier when he left.

"Y-you were hurt... again, what happened? You got shot on the way out as well?" Conan commented, a bit shocked but really worried. The thief never showed up after a heist, especially not if he was hurt.

"Yes, I think it's kind of obvious..."KID barely managed to finish saying that before he fell on his knees. Conan, who until that moment was frozen in the spot, completely unable to move due to the shock of seeing the thief in such a bad condition, finally snapped into action. He moved quickly to where the injured thief was kneeling, half his mind screaming at him to cuff and arrest him now that he was vulnerable and half of it, urging him to help him and  make sure he won’t be dying tonight in his backyard.

It was the later thought who in the end won.

When he finally reached him, he started to unbutton the thief's jacket. Conan was halfway done with it when a blood stained, gloved hand stopped him. "I wouldn't go there if I were you..." KID murmured, his face contorted in pain.

Sighing in exasperation, Conan interrupted him, "Look, you're hurt, really badly as far as I can see, there's no way I can leave you alone like this. Please let me help you." The thief seemed a bit perplexed at that earnest declaration, but didn't say anything more, simply letting the not-child to continue to undress him, in a more careful way than KID thought him capable of. Conan gently moved his hands across the bloody blue shirt looking for a way to get it out of the way without injuring the thief further when, not only one, but two gems fell out of one of his jacket’s inner pockets. This made Conan frown with confusion.

"I thought you said you were going after Ember's Heart only" he half asked, half stated, finally opening the shirt. He was a bit relieved that he hadn’t encountered any nasty surprise or trap within KID’s clothing. Still, he was a bit wary to suddenly find one.  

"I was… this one was just the spur of moment really... but I don’t really regret it" the thief quietly murmured. He was now laying on the grass, his breaths coming out more laboured by the second.

Conan starred to asses just how serious KID’s wound was, but always minding the Card Gun on the thief’s hand on the periphery of his sight. Even if KID had allowed Conan to help him, he had not let his guard down for even a second. Conan had the courtesy not to mention anything, but he also kept his own guard up.  For a brief moment the thief’s breathing was the only sound uttered; this silence was interrupted by Conan’s cursing.

"I can’t believe you! You were shot in the chest, the bullet may be lodged near your heart…pressed against it even, and you still continued to fly and run away?" Conan asked, incredulity present in his voice.

"I’ve got no choice, I couldn't let them have it…" the thief barely whispered, seemingly unable to speak louder at the moment. At hearing this, Conan straightened up. "It? One of the gems?" he asked.

KID groaned as his other hand went for the one he had stolen without a notice. It was a complete see-through crystal gem, however on closer inspection, there seemed to be something inside it, as if a second gem, not entirely visible at simple glance was hidden there; with not small effort on his part, KID held it up towards the moon just as the clouds removed themselves from it’s path. When the moonlight touched the gem, a faint red glow emanated from the hidden core, bathing both of them in soft red spots of light. Conan could only gape, the pretty display leaving him speechless for a few seconds.

Eventually Conan overcame his surprise and finally said "It is so beautiful… but what is it?" he asked. KID half chuckled, but this was followed by a pained groan.

"Its name is Pandora, it's a double gem that I have been looking for…” he felt silent for a moment, trying to catch his breath and maybe trying to put some order into his thoughts. “It’s supposed to be magical and… and I want to… no, I need to destroy it" Conan gasped.

"Ok, that really answered my question, but why are you risking you're life to destroy a gem like that?" he asked.

"Because it’s... because it is what got my father killed." the thief said, groaning in pain in between laboured breaths again. Apparently just remembering the predicament the thief was currently in, Conan placed his hand over KID’s, closing them over the gem, hiding it from the moonlight.

"Don’t speak, we can talk later, right now you’re hurt and need to keep your energy. I have a friend that can remove the bullet so you won’t need to go the hospital…" his words fading out as he noticed that they were now surrounded by some kind of dome made of red light. Looking up, he noticed that the moon was shining red too, and that it was somehow feeding the dome.

"KID? Is there a reason why we are surrounded by red moonlight?" he asked. Kaitou cracked an eye open, then he sighed.

"I don't know... it might be because of Pandora..." he muttered.

"So... if we destroy it now, we will be free of this red dome? Will the moon not shine red anymore?" Conan asked. KID stared at him.

"Do you want it to continue to shine like that?" he asked, or more like teased, despite obviously being in pain.

"No, that's not what I meant and you know it" Conan sighed. Suddenly the light grew stronger and the two looked around, seeing the reflection of a smaller object crossing the dome, as if it was flying across the sky instead. Conan gaped.

"Is that a meteor? It can’t be a real one! There were no meteors mentioned on the news!" Conan stated.

The meteor like object was only visible for a few seconds before it disappeared behind the red moon. KID got a really bad felling about all of this so he tried to get the detective out of harm’s way. "Run..." he whispered.

"What?" Conan asked, not really understanding the thief’s request.

"Run... now... go away…" KID whispered again. Conan shook his head frantically.

"No way, I'm not leaving you to die in my back yard!" Conan protested. He shifted his hand a bit, trying to get a better hold of KID, letting some of the moonlight reach the gem again in the process. Just then the dome grew lighter, the wind picked up speed and the gem grew hot. Conan removed his hand, wincing.

"What the-" he stopped mid-sentence. KID had also let the gem go, leaving it to fall to the ground. The gem was burning, bright light and steam leaving its surface. KID tried to sit up, staring at the gem with just as much confusion, shock and nervousness as Conan. A loud, cracking noise was suddenly heard before an indescribable pain assaulted them. They fell back on the grass, moaning in pain just as the dome and the gem shattered in a million pieces, missing the way the red light retreated into their writhing forms.

Conan, who was a bit more used to the pain, and who wasn’t injured previously, recovered faster than KID, taking a quick hold to their surroundings. He soon noticed that both the dome and the gem were gone, and that both he and KID now sported a bleeding eye thanks to a piece of diamond poking out of it.

A spasm of pain in his chest made him freeze. He suddenly felt extremely hot and sweaty, his heart racing so fast it hurt. His eye on the other hand didn’t hurt anymore, or perhaps it did, but the pain in the rest of his body overcame it.

_"W-what's_ _happening_ _to_ _me_ _…?"_ he barely managed to think before his sight got clouded and darkness overtook him.


	4. Red Shards

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I apologize for the delay in posting this chapter. I got super busy, then got dragged into a writing week for another fandom (and I still haven’t uploaded all the works there… and there is another character week going on....) and then tried to finish another story so I had less stories to worry about.
> 
> Anyway, this is rather short, it was originally part of another, but edition time left it a bit bigger than intended.  
> (I’ll be posting the other half hopefully by the end of the week)

KID groaned when he recovered his consciousness, the pain in his chest and his eye was gone and he felt strangely light, like he was floating. He tried to stand up but when he reached for the floor in order to push himself up, he found it missing. With some dread pooling in his stomach, he looked down only to find that he was indeed floating only not in the way he thought. Just below him, a see through version of himself, was lying in the grass beside Conan, who by the looks of it, was still in pain, but otherwise, unconscious.

He was about to wonder what was happening when gravity finally pulled him down, suddenly falling only a few feet away from his original place; when he managed to sit up, he realized that he wasn't invisible anymore, also that he was still looking at himself. When his 'clone' also sat up, he stared back at him, his face painted in shock.

"So… Uh..." was all that left the thieves’ mouths. One of them simply sighed.

"What the hell just happened?" he asked loudly.

The other thief shot him a nervous smirk, "I think that Pandora happened" he stated with not as much certainty as he would have liked. The other thief promptly caught on this, sending a glare in the other’s direction.

"And how exactly would you know that? Come to think about it, who are you and how do you know about Pandora at all?" he asked.

"I'm you. We are one and the same, therefore I know everything and anything you know" at hearing this words, KID fell back against the grass in pure shock.

"W-what? But how…? It just…" KID stuttered, too stunned to be able to form a coherent thought. In the meanwhile, his 'clone' was too busy trying to get up. However what finally caught KID’s attention was the other thief’s clothing. His suit was pristine white, with no traces of blood or tears from his injuries. KID looked down at himself and gaped.

"How come you are completely clean and I'm not?" he asked bewildered as the other thief walked over to the child lying in the grass and picked him up.

"Now is not the time…" the ‘clone’ said and KID looked at him, then his focus switched to Conan. The child was covered in sweat and he looked like he was in pain, a lot of pain. His eyes were closed, he was making some painful noises and it looked as if steam was rising from his body.

"Let's take him inside..." the other thief nodded, agreeing silently. The 'clone' handed Conan over to KID in order to pick the lock on the backdoor. KID silently thanked whoever was responsible for his clone getting his tricks. As they headed inside, they decided to put the child in his own bedroom, walking right to the bedrooms upstairs, already knowing which one's belonging to who. When KID put the child on the bed, he noticed how Conan's eyes tightened before they finally opened.

"K-KID?" he asked half whispering, half groaning, while grabbing his shirt right over his heart. The two thieves exchanged worried glances as the child let out a loud cry; it took the two thieves only a second more to realize what was going on, and by then, Conan had already begun to grow. The thieves silently watched in horror as the limbs started to grow.

"Oh God..." the sight was quite gruesome and KID felt like puking; however, he knew he didn't have time to actually do it.

"The clothes! We have to take off his clothes!" another voice piped in, startling them. The two KID's turned their heads towards the owner of the voice and gaped. In the doorway stood an identical Conan, the only difference was that he didn't look like he was about to have a heart attack and die… or grow at an extreme speed.

"Uh…?" Kaitou began while his 'clone' grabbed the child on the bed and promptly stripped him of his clothing, putting him under the duvet afterwards. The boy in the doorway came over, sighing.

"Well… It looks like it wasn't just me then…" he said, giving the two thieves a contemplative stare. KID turned away from the detective in the bed. The sight was just too much, and he still felt like hell.

"So, any thoughts on what happened?" the 'clone' asked. Conan nodded.

"Yeah, my guess is Pandora. I think It may be possible that when it shattered, it sent a shard into KID's and mine’s or well Shinichi’s eyes, and well, maybe because of the energy backlash when it happened, we somehow… split?" he suggested. KID gaped.

"Is that even possible?" he asked. Conan stared at him.

"And you're asking that after seeing 'me' growing at extreme speed?" he stated while gesturing towards the still growing detective.

"True... I guess I can't say what's possible and not after meeting you...” KID sighed, then murmuring in a barely audible whisper “and especially not after being acquainted with Akako…” then, suddenly remembering about it, he slapped a hand over his left eye.

"The shard..." he said and pulled back his hand, founding that he was still bleeding, although the pain was gone. Conan sighed.

"It's only you in that case, I don't have neither the pain nor the injury." he said. The other thief nodded his agreement.

"Me neither...I guess only our “original” selves got the shard's"

"Somehow, that may be the case. I'm running over to Agasa’s to get Haibara, you two," he began, now glaring icily at them, making both thieves swallow. Tiny or not, Conan could leave a threat in the air just as good as Nakamori could fail to catch him during the heists. Only this one was scarier, "Leave Shinichi alone and you’ll regret it" then he was gone, leaving the threat to sink in. The thieves shivered.

"Clone or not… he is still scary." KID said and the other nodded. The two turned back to the original body of Kudou Shinichi and had to look away again. He wasn't completely back to his size. One of his hands fell off the edge of the bed making the two thieves watch as the bones and the skin stretched further. The two gulped heavily.

"If I have to see any more of this I'll puke..." the 'clone' said. KID agreed with a groan of his own. It was horrible, and it didn't seem to be getting better any time soon.

"I just wish it was already over... it looks really painful…" he said.

"It is…" a voice suddenly agreed, making them turn around only to see the once-child, now pre-teen, giving the two a painful smile. KID looked down at him and his heart ached when he saw the pained expression on the other’s face; none of this was shown, as KID was forcing himself to wear poker face non stop at the moment. A sudden burst of energy and KID’s clothes were replaced with his school uniform. He gaped, poker face forgotten, as he stared down at himself. Had the other thief done that? Or was it part of the ‘splitting’ process -as weird as that sounded-?

"What the-" he stuttered while still staring down. The other thief chuckled at his stunned expression.

"Seems like it wasn't complete yet." he said still chuckling, which earned him a deadpan glare from KID.

"Shut up! It felt horrible!" he muttered. And he was speaking the truth, he felt as if his clothes were magically removed almost down to his boxers… not that he used specific underwear for KID heists, but still. And for his suit to be replaced with his school uniform? Kaito was sure it had been at home, on his bed, in the mess he left it in when he went on a heist.

The door opened, revealing Conan, and another child, the girl who had ‘affectionately’ been called ‘Satan's spawn’ by certain de-aged detective, because she was definitely evil. Her chestnut colored hair danced as she quickly ushered over to the detective on the bed. Conan walked in as well, however, he stopped by KID's side.

"Is she the one you said could pull out a bullet?" KID asked. Conan nodded.

"Yes, but my guess is that it's not even in there anymore seeing you aren't dead already-wait,  when did you change your clothes?" he asked, changing the subject abruptly once he saw that the KID he was talking to was dressed in black instead of his usual pristine white. Shinichi gave another pained cry, making everybody look back at him, seeing that nothing changed in his current status, Conan turned his attention back to KID.

"I didn’t, I guess it is also Pandora’s doing. You're looking at my real self here!" Kaitou said, poker face firmly in place, even if he was feeling rather naked under Conan’s scrutinizing gaze. After a few seconds, Conan nodded, then he smiled softly before he grinned.

"I have no intention of arresting you so don't worry; besides, right now it's him we need to worry about." he pointed at Shinichi, who was still growing and by the look on Haibara’s face, it won’t be stopping any time soon. After a few more minutes, the girl turned back to the other three males, who were waiting for her verdict.

"He still has a few years more to grow in this rapid speed, but everything seems to be normal, what worries me is that there's a red shard in his eye and I don’t know if it would affect his sight if we left it there or if it would affect him more if we attempt to remove it while he is still growing. Oh! And he just passed out again." she stated in her usual, serious demeanour; her voice however, was laced with worry that only those close to her would be able to detect.

"The black-clothed KID over there has one too." Conan said. KID glared at the child, before he decided to be honest on this one, and he turned to the girl, nodding and explaining that he was not feeling any pain or discomfort. Haibara looked up at the thief, who smiled nervously.

"We'll do the talk after Kudou-kun regains consciousness." Haibara said.


	5. Talent for a Thief

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> First of all, I deeply apologize for the delay in posting this, but seeing as Real Life decided to be a bitch to me for the moment, I won't promise another chapter within the original schedule of one every fifteen days...
> 
> However I promise to update at least once a month.
> 
> without further ado, let's get on with "the talk"

A subtle and muted groan, loud enough to make the dove's head turn was the only thing that broke the silence that reigned in that room. A pair of lids fluttered open, revealing deep, azure blue eyes, clouded with sleep and some lingering pain.

"What the hell happened?" he asked aloud as he sat up. He stopped mid motion and looked down at himself when he felt something was different. Then he saw it, Edogawa Conan the identity he had been living under for quite some time now, until what he thought was either yesterday or maybe a few hours earlier, was gone.in his stead, was now his real self Kudou Shinichi, and he had no idea why.

"It seems you're awake Kudou-kun." A voice brought him back to reality; Shinichi looked over at the door to see Haibara enter.

"Was the door open all the time?" he asked. Haibara nodded.

"Just in case something happened, she wanted to make sure you'd be safe." said Kaitou KID as he entered, his pristine white almost blinding Shinichi in his still half asleep state.

"What the- where did all the blood go?" he asked, remembering KID’s appearance from before, with him being shot and wounded. Suddenly another KID appeared, this one wearing the monocle, but dressed in a black school uniform. Shinichi frowned.

"There's two of you…" he stated more than asked, feeling confused.

"There's two of you too!" the black clothed thief stated in half annoyance. That was when another child entered, making Shinichi fell off the bed in surprise, at seeing Conan. Conan scratched his cheek sheepishly.

"It can't be helped can it? It seems that Pandora did a lot more than just explode." Conan said, blushing a bit. Haibara sighed as she rolled her eyes while the two thieves coloured up. Seeing this made Shinichi frown.

"What is it? Why are you all blushing?" he asked. The black clothed KID sighed.

"Dense aren't you? Don’t you feel like something’s missing? Maybe telling you you're naked will help?" he suggested. Shinichi furrowed his eyebrows taking a good look at himself; he suddenly went red. The blush went past his face and down his neck, even his ears were red. Shinichi let out something that sounded suspiciously like a shriek before he grabbed the duvet and covered himself. Haibara, despite being the only girl in the room, acted rather cool about it all, despite having seen something Shinichi hadn't wanted her to see like never; that didn't mean she wasn't embarrassed though, a barely noticeable red tinge across her face was proof of this.

"Oh god…That… that was… awkward..." Shinichi muttered as he pretty much hid himself under the duvet. The two thieves scratched their cheeks simultaneously, both still blushing a bit. Shinichi then turned silent before he pulled the duvet back a bit, glaring at the others.

"Who took my clothes off then?" he asked. The white clothed Kaitou raised his hand slowly in the air, only to dodge a well-aimed alarm clock. Shinichi continued to glare at the white clad while Haibara smirked at the blush Shinichi still wore.

"Kudou-kun, how does your body feels?" Haibara asked, getting back to business; Shinichi slowly sat up, letting the duvet fall, revealing most of his chest. He took a pair of steps around the bed while moving his arms a bit before nodding.

"Actually, I feel fine, like nothing happened." he stated. Haibara frowned.

"Just for you to return... and for a second you to appear…" she muttered with a certain degree of exasperation.

"Isn't it more like we split?" Conan asked, eying the shrunken scientist.

"Well, it could be seen that way too, and if that's the case, then it doesn't seem like the two of you will become one again... that's troubling... what if _they_ get a hold of this?" she asked, staring right back at Shinichi, who by now was sitting on the bed again, resting his elbow on his knee while balancing his jaw on his hand.

"It can't be helped, it's not like I'll take the poison on purpose again, who knows what'll happen this time, anyway. I'll try to stay hidden and to not attract too much attention to myself, well, less than I did as Conan anyway." he smiled a bit. Conan pouted.

"It's not really my fault..." he muttered. Shinichi smiled.

"No, it isn't. You and I, we're both easily dragged into murder cases, it can't be helped if we feel the need to bring the culprits to face justice… or that we can’t resist a good mystery" he said. Conan slowly nodded, still a bit sulky. The two KID's eyed each other, both curious, and confused about the same thing.

"Who are you talking about?" the black clad asked. Shinichi stared at him.

"It is nothing you should concern yourselves about, besides it will only get you killed if you know." Shinichi stated and Kaitou pouted.

"It's not like I am not already on a certain someone’s death list anyway, I think I can handle another murderer or two." the thief in black muttered sullenly. Shinichi's eyes narrowed.

"Now that you mentioned it, I have noticed you are being targeted, and most of the times, it leads to you being injured in some other way, why? Just who are those chasing the Kaitou KID?" he asked. Both thieves averted his gaze, refusing to answer him. Seeing this, Shinichi sighed and relented.

"It seems we both have something to hide then... although if we consider that we kind of know each other’s identities, I wouldn’t think it mattered that much." he stated. KID frowned, looking at him again, his 'clone' doing the same.

"You know?" the black clad asked. Shinichi chuckled.

"No, not really, I know what you look like, specially considering not a lot of people is able to pose as Kudo Shinichi without having to use a mask, and based on that, I have already estimated your age and some other details; it shouldn't be much more complicated to find you." he stated. Kaitou let out a sigh that was filled with relief. Shinichi raised an eyebrow at that.

"You were easy on telling me about Pandora, what it did, as well as the fact that you wanted to destroy it was because your father died because of it... and yet, you're very secretive about your own identity." Shinichi commented, getting several confused looks; that was at least, until the two thieves realized just what he meant. The thieves paled.

"I... I guess." the black clad said, scratching his cheek again. The other smiled a bit.

"I personally think it's because I-or well maybe I should say we in this case then…" the black KID glanced at the other one, who glanced back.

"Yes please, say us or we, thank you very much." he stated. The white clad thief just smiled wanly before he continued.

"There are certain things you end up doing when your life passes in front of your life..." he said a bit muted, more than Shinichi would’ve liked anyway. The detective frowned, his eyes narrowing his stance contemplative.

"So… this was not the first time you've been deadly hurt then?" he asked. The two thieves exchanged nervous glances before they nodded.

"It's not like we can really help it, as thieves, especially ones as known as us, we always have someone out there who wants to hurt or kill us..." the black clothed teen said. Shinichi nodded.

"Yeah… I can understand that one." he agreed. The white clad KID stared back for a while before he too frowned.

“I presume that as a detective, you too have quite a few people who dislike you to the point of murderous intention... most of them I think, are currently in jail, am I right?" he asked and Shinichi nodded.

"It can't be helped that they do, especially the murderers, after all I unveil their ‘carefully’ designed crimes and confront them in a way that makes the police look like amateurs." at that, Shinichi cracked a bit of a smile while the other males laughed, Conan included.

"Don't let Nakamori-keibu hear you saying that." the white KID snickered. Haibara suddenly sighed.

"Please leave me out of all this police-talk..." then she stared directly at Shinichi, her eyes narrowing in a way that promised pain in the near future. Shinichi started sweating as he smiled nervously.

"If you do something that'll cause unwanted attention to come your way, please do remember I have, and I will use any necessary means to make you regret it." Shinichi shivered, then he nodded fast.

"Yes, I'll keep that in mind!" he answered, almost going into military stance and salute her, not wanting to cross her or get her mad at him, who knows what she would do to ensure his compliance otherwise. Then she walked out of the room, leaving the boys to themselves.

Conan walked over to the bed and jumped onto it, staring at the thieves, who were looking at the door, both looking a bit too shocked to do anything at the moment, they were left speechless.

"That girl, she is really… Scary..." the black KID breathed out. Shinichi chuckled.

"You don’t want to piss her off, trust me, it's horrible…" Conan stated, looking dead serious. Shinichi sporting the same seriousness made the thieves believed him, they believed them both. There was no way the two of them would joke about it, they wouldn't have looked like they'd die if they did. Sudden movement in the peripheral of his sight made Shinichi look around, spotting something white and feathery looking back at him.

"Why is there a dove on my desk?" he asked, turning to the two KIDs.

"Well, I can't have them hidden within my clothes forever you know, they need to breathe and stretch out a little too." the white clad said grinning making Shinichi sigh.

"Just clean up if it makes any mess, I don't want feathers and… other unmentionable things left on my desk, or anywhere else in the house for that matter." he stated, looking directly at the two thieves. The black one chuckled.

"Can't promise anything, but we'll try." he sing-sang. Shinichi's eyes narrowed a little more before he sighed again.

"As annoying as always." he shook his head before he placed a hand on Conan's head ruffling his hair, making the child squeak. The two thieves exchanged smiles at the sight. The older detective grinned as Conan turned around, pouting and trying to glare at his older self, but only succeeding in looking way too cute.

"What am I going to do with you, hm?" Shinichi asked in a somewhat affectionate way, laughing when Conan blushed a bit as he flattened his hair.

"I see you are not really shocked anymore then?” the black KID asked while looking their cute interaction.

"Well, there isn't much I can do about it anyway, I don't think it'd help if I sit here looking like a fool, speechless and beyond confused… it’s better if we take things in stride as they come" Shinichi stated, still smirking at Conan, who was still pouting. The two thieves nodded.

"I see... I wasn't that shocked to be honest, I guess Me in black was the one who freaked out." the white thief stated, chuckling a bit. The other glared back.

"I don't want to hear that from my clone... and no, I wasn't that shocked either!" he said, sulking a bit. Shinichi and Conan eyed the two thieves in amusement as they bickered back and forth about being or not being shocked, that was, until the white KID said something that managed to shock the rest.

"Well, you and I have a mental connection, so your emotions are mine, I would obviously know if you were shocked or not!" he said airily. The three just gaped at this bit of information.

"What?" the black KID asked. Shinichi and Conan stared speechlessly at the two.

"You didn't notice?" the white KID asked as his real-self continued gaping.

"I… no, obviously not! How can I, when I was busy worrying Tantei-kun might die?" the latter stated, a bit agitated. Suddenly Shinichi coughed.

"Well, painful growth spurt aside, you were the one that looked like you were on death's door." The black KID blushed a bit at this statement.

"I know! But it wasn’t really my fault… besides, it looked like you were the one ready to die, and I could still move pretty well even if I had a bullet in my chest." Shinichi raised an eyebrow giving him an unimpressed stare.

"Could have fooled me, the fact that you were deathly pale and that your breathing came out in quick, short gasps surely was nothing...  fine? I don't think so". Both KIDs scratched the back of their necks in embarrassment.

"It's gone now, so don't worry too much." the black one said in a small voice.

"I-I did not!" Shinichi blushed as he protested, which only fueled the grin that was rising on the thieves faces. Then Shinichi sighed.

"Well, are you going to tell me about Pandora? It's not like I have an archive in my head about gems." Shinichi asked stirring the conversation again to the matter at hand, staring directly at the KID in black. The two thieves’ smiles disappeared before they looked down. At this, Conan and Shinichi exchanged worried glances.

"Is it that bad?" Conan asked.

"No! Well, maybe…" the white one said as the other sighed.

"It is not that the gem is a completely bad thing, but it's because of its legendary power that people wants it, and are willing to kill for It." he stated. Shinichi frowned.

"Legendary power?" Conan asked. Black KID chuckled bitterly.

"Well, it’s more like a myth really, no one knows if it is even true, but the legend said that under the light of the full moon, when the Volley comet passes, Pandora will cry tears of immortality." he explained making Shinichi and Conan eyes widen.

"We did see a comet across the sky… or rather across the red energy dome that was encasing us, but if it was meant to shed some kind of liquid, why did it explode instead?" the detective asked.

"I don't know, it may be because my wish was not to gain immortality, but to get rid of the gem? Or maybe the legend was altered at some point in the past, and this splitting phenomena is our brand of immortality… then again, for all we know the four of us might be immortal beings by now." the thief explained, shrugging his shoulders, then he stared past Shinichi, out of the window.

"What really that matters, is that Pandora is gone, so at least now I don't have to worry about it anymore…" he said solemnly. Shinichi raised an eyebrow but did not commented on the unusual seriousness displayed by the Thief. KID then tensed when he realized something was missing, a grimace coming to his features.

"Is this really it?" Shinichi asked, smiling knowingly, having realized the same thing KID did. The two thieves sighed.

"No." the white one said, shoulders sagging at his own words.

"I left a fake at the museum during the last Heist, so now I'll have to do another one as soon as possible to 'steal' it, and ‘destroy’ it. Then I can erase Pandora from history, once and for all." the black KID stated. Shinichi's eyebrows furrowed in thought before he looked at the White KID that was leaning against a dresser.  

"Mind open the upper drawer of that dresser and hand me some underwear, if we are going to keep on with this Chat, I think I'd rather have something more than a duvet to cover myself." he said. The thief nodded and opened the drawer, casually flinging a pair of boxers in the detective's direction. Shinichi tried to catch them, instead they landed on Conan's head and the child just sat there looking confused. The two thieves stared at the sight in front of them, as Shinichi sat there, looking just as confused as Conan.

A quiet chuckle quickly evolved into full laughter, both KIDs finding the scene completely hilarious. A moment later, their laughter stopped when Conan, who had ridden himself of the underwear, just about threw himself at the black clothed thief. KID out of instinct fled in a rather undignified manner; having a miniature sized detective trying to knock you out wasn't as fun as it sounded.

As Shinichi slipped on his underwear, and proceeded to dress himself further, Conan had changed his target to the white KID instead, and started to chase the thief around the room. It lasted for another five minutes or so before the thief suddenly stopped. Conan, who didn’t had time to stop himself, ran straight through him. The real KID, as well as Shinichi, gaped at that.

"You… you…" Shinichi seemed to be at a loss of words. Conan finally halted himself and turned around, a pout firmly in his face.

"That’s unfair! Why do you get all the neat tricks and talents? Shinichi and I have none!" the boy whined.

"Talents?" Shinichi asked, still shocked but also amused at his younger self. Conan huffed.

"I mean, when Pandora and the light dome exploded the energy backslash probably gave us some sort of power right? Obviously white KID has one that gives him invisibility, and invincibility as well… it's as if he really has become a phantom while his real self is probably as plain as us, save for the mind trick" at the plain-part, the real KID glared a bit childishly.

"I guess it can't be helped. Think of it this way, neither of us was meant to exist only as a phantom; KID however was, and still is, so I guess it makes sense, doesn't it?" Shinichi asked, grinning at KID'. The black clad nodded.

"1t does…” the faraway look that suddenly took hold of the black KID, quickly drew the attention of the other occupants of the room; however the maniac grin that began to appear in his face sent chills down the spine of the detectives. “Just imagine all the pranks we can play like this! I have a feeling that Nakamori-keibu will be..." his voice faded off, the maniac grin now shared with the other thief.

"Scared?" Shinichi suggested. The two thieves snorted simultaneously.

"No way, he'll be more…" the white KID turned to his counterpart.

"Mad? Perplexed? Shocked? Recklessly furious? Murderous?" the other suggested.

"Really? That's all you expect? Oh wait, you may have a point, this is Nakamori-keibu we're talking about." Shinichi did a face palm. The thieves laughed. Conan smiled.

"Well, what should we do now?" Conan asked.

The thieves looked at each other, before one of them answered, the barest hint of uncertainty in his tone "Maybe we should start with introductions…? And maybe come up with some more lies"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hummm, How would you like to call the second KID? 
> 
> Suggestions?


	6. Changes

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Again, Thanks for your comments and your Kudos! it really make me smile everytime i recieve them!

Shinichi sighed as he relaxed into the comfortable chair by the desk in the library. He had one of his favourite Sherlock Holmes’ books in one hand and a mug filled with a special brew of Colombian coffee on the other. All in all, even if this was the closest to a personal heaven that he could achieve, it was the only thing he could do for the time being as Haibara deemed necessary to put him under house arrest until she ran a couple of test to see confirm that nothing was wrong with him or the chemicals still running in his blood.

In the meanwhile, Conan went back to the Detective Agency, resuming his routine as if nothing out of the ordinary had changed and spending his time with the detective boys or with Agasa and himself if he had the time.

Sometime during the past days, Shinichi also resolved to talk to his parents about the ‘Conan Situation’. At first, they were reasonably shocked, especially considering that, not too long ago, both Shinichi and Conan were one and the same, or in other words their only son. Then again, once they got over the shocking news, Yukiko was delighted; she couldn’t stop blabbering about all the cute things she could do with little Conan-kun now that he was an actual child.

It wasn’t until Yuusaku took the phone from his exited wife’s hands that they started to talk about serious matters.

Shinichi voiced his concerns about Conan’s non-existent status in the system, seeing as they had only been working with forges and hacks whenever they needed to confirm his existence. Now, and seeing that he wouldn’t be disappearing after they have dealt with the organization or after he got a permanent cure, they had to look for a way to ‘introduce’ him to the Japanese system in a more legal way.

Shinichi knew his parents had a lot of connections, not only inside the country, but also outside of it, so he knew that whatever they decided was the best course to take, they would make sure everything was alright in the end.

Putting aside his book, giving up on reading while his mind was so utterly scattered, he reached instead for his still warm coffee. Yes, this past week had been hectic, what with him trying to adjust to his old body again and the idea of now having a Chibi version of himself running around. Although to be completely honest, he had it easy. Neither Conan nor he had any special ‘talent’ like KID had.

KID, or at least the version of him that appeared after the split, had his invisibility, and the fact that if you shot at him, the bullet would either go through, or it wouldn't bleed at all if it did hit him. The real thief on the other hand, didn't experience any special change either, except for the mind link he now shared with his copy.

Suppressing a smile at the memory of Conan getting jealous about the thieves’ ‘talents’, and the subsequent theorisation of how said ‘talents’ came to be, and instead taking another sip of his beverage, Shinichi couldn’t help himself when his mind went back to the conversation the four of them had that fateful night… 

 

* * *

 

 

_"Lies?"_ _Conan asked, becoming rather serious for his apparent age. Kaito nodded._

_"It would be best right? I mean we have to figure out a way to explain our dual existences, especially to those who are in on our secrets. Also so that we don’t get unwanted attention."_ _he said, smiling a bit when Conan pouted. Shinichi nodded._

_"Yeah, you’re right, although what do you mean introductions? You already know of us, and we know... well, we know certain facts about you."_ _he said, motioning for the black thief, who in turn shot him a daring grin._

_"Well, do you want to know the rest?"_ _he asked back. Shinichi and Conan were stunned, not really believing what the thief was offering. After a few seconds, it was Shinichi who finally broke the silence._

_"No. Well, we obviously want to know, but not like this. If we were to gain access to that secret we want it to be in a fair way, after a battle of wits or if you feel that you can actually trust us completely; otherwise it just seems so… wrong."_ _he said with conviction._

_Both thieves were rather surprised at his declaration, but then they nodded, a small smile adorning their features. It wasn't the first time they had acted in a surprising way. They had often come to work together, helping each other during tough cases or hard times and sometimes as a ‘thank you’, they had refrained from mentioning that he was there or that something related to KID actually happened. It was their unspoken rule, to be of use to each other whenever they needed to and never tell anyone about what they learn from and about each other._

_"So, it does count if the thief wants to reveal himself?"_ _the white thief asked. Shinichi sat back, sending a meaningful glance back at Conan who stared back right away. Their gazes were completely serious, as if debating silently how to proceed._

_"Are you really sure?"_ _Shinichi asked a few seconds later, his voice reflecting the seriousness still present in his eyes. Kaito smiled._

_"Well, I wouldn't be offering otherwise, would I? Besides, I trust you won’t use it against me."_ _Kaito explained._

_"Did you have a change of heart or something? Not too long ago you were kind of reluctant to share details about the gem or about those who are shooting at you on heists; besides you don't strike me as one to tell your secrets so easily, so what’s the catch?."_ _Shinichi said._

_"No, I'm not, but I just guess I like the idea of having someone that knows how it feels to lie and hide secrets from our loved ones, knowing who I am; so yes I want to, strangely enough I'm okay with it”_ _there was a short pause._

_"Then again I’m not sure right now would be the best moment to do it, we still have a lot to sort out."_ _Kaito obviously meant Conan and his own clone, but Shinichi smiled anyway, amused by the fact that the thief seemed resolved but still a bit nervous about his decision. He guessed old habits die hard and even if he really trusts them, being in the same room as the detectives that had been constantly chasing him in one form or another should be a little unnerving._

_"I agree with you, besides you can always just sweep by any time you actually want to talk, it’s not like you won’t do that anyway."_ _Shinichi stated, raising an eyebrows as he stared at the thief, who merely chuckled in agreement._

_"Well, I'll let myself in then."_ _he said cheerfully and Shinichi groaned._

_"Please refrain from breaking and entering, just ring the damn doorbell next time."_ _he said in a mock irritated tone._

_"Where's the fun in that? And you know I can't really do that, people would surely stare if they saw me knocking on your door."_ _Kaito answered happily._

_"Not a lot of people actually use this street, besides, I’m sure you'd be able to come up with a disguise of sorts."_ _he said, waving a hand. Kaito grinned._

_"True, then, I'll take you on your invitation."_ _Kaito grinned as he changed his outfit again to his white suit to match the other thief before they made their way towards the door._

_"By the way, I'm using your backdoor."_ _Kaito said, waving over his shoulder. Shinichi sighed before turning back to Conan._

_"Well, let’s start making plans then."_ _he said and the boy nodded before answering._

_"Yes, let’s."_

 

* * *

 

 

Looking at his reflection in the windowpane, Kaito slowly let his surroundings blur into nothingness, his thoughts drifting to the events of days prior.

He still couldn’t believe he had finally found Pandora, that he was really close to die because of it and that before he was able to destroy the accursed gem, it exploded in a million pieces… but not before leaving him and Tantei-kun with a little ‘parting gift’.

Talking about said particular ‘gift’, he still doesn’t know how to proceed with him. Yes, having a phantom clone of him could actually be beneficial, especially in covering his tracks and making a solid alibi for his whereabouts during heist nights; but other than that he still didn’t know what to do with his clone… who by the way, was currently lazing around in the KID lair.

A devilish smile adorned his face at the mere thought of Hakuba loosing it when confronted with the two of them.

Hakuba by the way, seemed to have been genuinely concerned for his well being after the heist, even going as far as mounting guard outside his house to check on him the moment he returned. Apparently several officers of the task force noticed that the last bullet hit home and the instant he heard about it, he ran as fast as he could towards the Kuroba Home.

Kaito was touched, even if, as usual he denied fervently being KID, while brushing aside Hakuba’s concerns. 

(The Detective thought he was being discreet but Kaito had already caught him several times staring at him worriedly for the past few days)

And there was Snake.

He wasn’t naïve enough to think that now that the gem was destroyed, his mission was completed, far from it, actually. He still had to return last heist’s official Gem and organize a new one for the fake that he left behind. Fortunately, that fake was part of a permanent exhibition, so he did not have to rush his plans to retrieve it.

He could even use that fake as bait to try and bring his father’s murderers to face justice.

“ _Yeah… I could do that…”_ although he knew that for a plan like that to come to fruition, he would need more back up than the one his clone and Jii-chan could provide. The memory of a pair of smirking detectives crossed his mind. He knew for a fact that he could actually trust them, that he had trust them in the past and up to date, they had not let him down. Maybe if he explained things properly, they could help him end his mission. He would have to test the waters first thought.

“ _I wonder, how is he doing…? How are they doing…?”-_ Suppressing a sigh he thought - _“Perhaps it would be a good idea to pay the Meitantei a visit later today.”_

* * *

 

Several hours later, Shinichi was still lost in his thoughts.

There was the issue of him being stuck in his own house, without anything but books and coffee, and the violin if he felt like playing it of course, but little by little all those restraints in his freedom, were beginning to wear on him.

Haibara had -obviously joking- suggested earlier in the week that he could try to learn how to cook something that was not only edible but that actually had a good taste, just in case for the times when Conan came over. – “I don’t want him to die because of your terrible cooking skills Kudo-kun” – was what she actually said with a mocking smirk playing on her lips.

However, there was a downside. How could he try to bake or cook anything if he wasn’t even allowed to go outside to buy the necessary ingredients?  Perhaps Haibara’s comments were made in jest, but he took them seriously, not only because of the child but because of him too. He could not depend on Ran or on instant meals whenever he was hungry, and everybody that had actually tasted his food, complained about its edibility.

He was about to call Haibara to let her know he would need some things from the grocery store when he realized it was still school time. That brought another issue to the front of his mind.

If everything went just as he wanted, he would be back to school soon; however, with all the time he had been away, he was lagging behind his class. He even considered if he would be allowed to continue in third year or if he would be forced to redo the second one entirely. Shinichi gave a grimace at that thought, there was no way he would go back a year; he would fight it with any necessary means.

He called his school instead, hoping the principal pitied him enough to let him just take the exams he missed for second year and the ones he had already missed of the third.

_"We can only hope I guess."_ he thought. It didn't take him long to get in touch with the school and after some talking (and begging and promising lot of things, his participation in a soccer match against a rival school included), Shinichi managed to break a deal for him to continue the third year instead of redoing second year. The principal was really surprised that Shinichi was willing to go that far, but after the initial shock, he eventually took advantage of the situation before accepting. Shinichi was told to appear at a certain date and time to start his tests and further discuss the details of their deal.

When Shinichi was finally done with his call, an hour had already passed. The teen sighed in boredom as he put down the phone. The appointed date was a few days away and he had more than enough time to burn through, so he may as well occupy himself with his school subjects.

He decided to have a snack first before remembering why he wanted to call Haibara in the first place. He decided to search through the kitchen anyway in hopes of finding some leftovers o something he could use to try and fix himself a meal. This last thought made him huff in annoyance.

"I'm not _that_ bad at cooking." he muttered.

"You can't cook?" was the question that seeped in through the doorway. Shinichi tensed immediately, stopping his line of thoughts. He relaxed slightly once he recognized who the voice belonged to, even if said voice currently matched his completely. Then he stared blankly at ‘himself’ before sighing for the nth time that day.

"KID, I swear, if you continue to impersonate me, I will shoot you." the thief laughed while ruffling his own hair.

"It's easier for me this way since I need to loose any tail that may be following me… There’s another High School detective that feels the need to follow me everywhere trying to accuse me of being KID. I doubt he'd like it if he finds out I’m hanging out with a much more interesting and friendly detective" the thief answered with a smile. Shinichi raised an eyebrow at this.

"Another detective you say? May I assume you are talking about Hakuba-san?" he asked. The thief continued to ruffle his hair, making sure it stayed that way before entering the kitchen.

"Yes, the annoying detective who most of the time acts like he has a stick up his ass." KID stated eliciting a quiet laugh from Shinichi. Looking closely at the thief’s body language, he noticed that even if they were chattering rather friendly, he still wasn’t letting his guard down.  He supposed he the fact that they were still on different sides of the law, budding friendship aside, had something to play in this.

"I doubt he would really mind it; besides, if you appear on my door step as you are, it may look like as if I am actually having normal visitors." Shinichi said.

"You are aware I am far from normal, right?" KID said with a laugh.

"I’m aware; though I'm not sure you’re the most unusual one." Shinichi explained, smiling when the thief continued chuckling.

"Then I’m not sure I want to know how your friends are!" he stated, a huge smile adorning his face before adding “Strangely, your choice of friends doesn't surprise me at all." The teens kept laughing for a little bit more before Shinichi raised an eyebrow in question.

"So, why did you come? Is this about what we last talked about?" he asked. The thief nodded, making himself at home by sitting down on the kitchen table and 'magically' producing a cup filled with chocolate in his hand.

"Well, I know that you were all set on telling me your secrets last time we met, but I still have to ask again, are you sure you want to do it?" Shinichi asked with a serious tone. Kaito at hearing this put his cup down, directing his gaze towards the detective, as if looking for the right answer before averting it.

"I'm… not sure anymore, I'm never unsure about things, but…" he murmured.

"I suspected as much." Shinichi stated with an understanding smile while taking his own cup in his hands. The thief grinned at him before he took a sip from his cup.

"You know, I was so sure I would be able to do it, but now I feel like I need to sort some things out before taking that step" he fell silent. Shinichi eyed the unusually serious thief, leaning back in his chair, crossing his arms.

"Don’t worry, I can wait, as I already told you, I don’t want you to feel pressured to share something you are not ready to, if ever. Besides it's not the end of the world for me if you don't, I mean... If I really had wanted to know, I would have already figured it out on my own." he stated which earned him a slight pout.

"Would you? Really?" he asked back a dubious tone lacing his words. Shinichi smirked.

"Well, for example, you said earlier that you were being followed by Hakuba-san right? So I can presume that you are somewhat close to him, either by work related situations or school, maybe just living in the vicinity. This obviously explains why he is suspicious of you; I bet he was since day one of meeting you even if he doesn’t have actual evidence to prove his deductions. Knowing Hakuba-san, he would still cling to this idea, going as far as making weird plans to somehow make you do a mistake and slip your cover, am I correct so far?." Shinichi stated. Kaito stared back with an astonished expression; he knew Shinichi was good, but to deduce all of that with just loose sentences…

"That’s pretty much accurate. Wait, you do know Hakuba, don't you?" he asked.

"Of course I do, I've even worked with him on a case not too long ago, even though I was Conan then" Shinichi sighed slightly exasperated at the memory.

"He annoyed you?" Kaito asked with an amused tone in his voice.

"What do you think? Not only that, he managed to piss Hattori off as the case got worse. The worst part was his seemingly nonexistent care of other human beings as long as he could solve the case. He was there more for the puzzle than for saving lives" Shinichi sighed, then continued "In the end, it was Hattori who solved it right in front of him; it was kind of ironic since the rashness and impulsivity that Hakuba accused Hattori of, were the ones that helped save lives and ultimately solved the case."

"Yes, Hakuba can be like that, he is actually better now, you know? It has taken a lot of time and dedication to soften him up, but he's still as stiff as they come." and then he groaned. "I'd love to mess with him a lot more, but he's just too good at noticing things... not as good as you, but still." Shinichi raised an eyebrow at the belated compliment, opting for not mentioning right away.

"Well, he is a bit uptight during cases, but I doubt he is that bad outside them." Shinichi said. The magician thief sighed.

"You don't know him personally. Believe me; you may want to ask for a spare supply of patience to keep up with his quirkiness in a daily basis. Then again, I may be biased." he said, glaring at the empty cup in his hand before he made it vanish in a cloud of pink smoke. Shinichi narrowed his eyes at this, his mind automatically trying to deduce how he did it, but he couldn't come with an answer, at least not one that made sense.

He decided to store that thought for a later date before taking up his deductions about the thief once more. By the end of his diatribe, KID was thanking Lady Luck that Shinichi had never been interested in “petty thefts” before, because if not, by now he would be rotting away in a cell of a high security prison.

They kept bantering back and forth until Kaito decided it was best for him to leave before the mini scientist came back and decided it was a good idea to scare and torture poor unsuspecting Magicians.

He bid the detective farewell, but not before promising to visit again soon, maybe before the weekend.

Shinichi may never admit it, but he was looking forward to his next visit.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I still don't know how to call Kaito's Clone! jaja
> 
> I hope you enjoyed the chapter!
> 
> See you (hopefully) soon!


	7. Windowpane

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Again thank you for leaving Kudos (or for leaving a comment!)!

Throwing her head back in her seat while taking off her glasses and putting them on her desk, Kisaki Eri let out a really long sigh.

She usually enjoyed her rare talks with Yukiko, even if the both of them were in complete opposite sides of the spectre. In all honesty, she had always thought that Yukiko’s antics provided a fresh approach to life in general that she could not often find with the rest of her friends and co-workers, and just because of that, she cherished their friendship immensely.

This time however, Yukiko’s call was for a completely serious matter, even if when first being told, she thought it should be a really bad Joke. Turns out it wasn’t, and now she was hired to arrange the necessary paperwork so that Conan-kun was officially part of the Kudou Family; not as the distant relative that he already was, but as an actual son of Kudou Yuusaku and Yukiko.

According to Yukiko, Conan-kun was just recently made an orphan and the Kudous now held his custody rights. She was also asked to make everything with utmost secrecy, since Conan-kun still didn’t know about this, and they were waiting to come to Japan to inform him properly.

She briefly considered if she should alert Ran and Kogorou about this life altering news for Conan-kun so they may help him overcome it, then decided against it. She had been hired for a job, and even if she had not been asked for secrecy, her work ethics forbid her to talk about the case to third parties, even if those parties were her daughter and husband.

Picking Goro-chan from the floor and stroking his fur absently, she hoped that this new development for the Kudous, especially for their newest and younger member, was not going to be as difficult or as painful as it may seem.

“I’m sure Shinichi-kun would be really helpful to keep Conan-kun from depression, the two of them are so alike… if only he was around more often…”

 

* * *

 

 

The week was finally coming to an end, and even if he still haven’t heard from his parents and their plans to legally introduce Edogawa Conan to the Japanese System, he knew he had to do some adjustments himself as well.

Yes, he had been living in the Kudo Manor for about a week, and it had been unoccupied for about two more prior, but he knew that Subaru-san was due to return any day now.

And he knew that they could not be sharing quarters for fear of attracting unwanted attention to themselves, so he decided that the logical solution was that he had to move out of the manor and look for a place to live elsewhere.

He honestly was going to miss the privacy of the Kudou Library, not to mention the books.

He had already seen some places online, most of them apartments or small houses in the vicinity; he did not see any reason to search for anything bigger since it would be only for himself and Conan, and even if they actually had someone over, they could easily manage. For now, he was favouring an apartment complex not too far from the manor that according to the description and photos, the place was cosy and really well distributed. The fact that it already came furnished played a big role as well.

 A sudden shift in the atmosphere and Shinichi knew that he was not alone anymore.

“Hey KID, fancy seeing you here.  I see you decided to pick up my locks and break in again”. Shinichi’s tone was mostly amused and in the least surprised. Glancing over at Kid, he discovered that the thief, still in his school uniform looked just as amused.

“Well, I promised to come by again before the end of the week, so here I am! I really hope you didn’t miss me too much!” Kaito said with a wink and the snort that followed that statement was the only answer he got.

Perching himself on another seat in the vast library, Kaito produced out of thin air a par of soda cans, opening one and offering the other to the detective.

Eyeing the offered can, and again being unable to deduce how or where the Thief kept them hidden, he decided to simply ask "How did you do that? I've seen you make things appear and disappear before, but I am unable to deduce how you did it. Are you using a new trick?" he asked. Kaito looked up at him, shaking his head slightly and smiling a bit.

"No, it seems that I too have a... 'Talent' as your mini-self called it. My 'other' half is apparently able to perform real magic, and it seems some of it leaked through our bond. Mine is just a variation of sleight of hand, but still it really comes in handy.  I would advice you to check out if you got something special too." he said. Shinichi frowned.

“I don’t think we have any, especially since unlike you, neither of us have ever specialized in anything besides detective work.”

"Don't you? What about soccer? I know for a fact that you are a terrific player. And don't you play the violin? Maybe you could explore that too". Shinichi raised an eyebrow at that; he briefly wondered how KID knew that particular bit of information about him. Then again, it was KID…

“I’m not sure if I want to know how you know that but yes, I or rather we enjoy those, but considering that at least I had been playing the violin several times since I ‘came back’, I’m sure I would have noticed if something was different”. Shinichi then tried to remember if Conan had mentioned if something was amiss with his soccer skills, since he and the Detective Boys played on a regular basis.

“Conan haven’t mentioned anything amiss either now that I think about it; however it would be worth a shot to pay closer attention to it the next time we engage in a soccer match. Then again I am not really expecting much from it since we don’t have that mind connection you and your ‘double’ have, even if we kind of have the same brain”

“Kind of? What do you mean?”

“That he is finally starting to act like a boy his age, a scarily smart one, but a child still.” Shinichi suddenly adopted a pensive expression, one that was also tinged with bits of melancholy. After a couple of minutes he added “You know I am kind of glad that he is, that he is getting the opportunity of having a better and friendlier childhood than mine… if this is some kind of second chance, I am happy Conan is able to have his too”.

“Is that why you are looking for a new place to stay? So you both could start afresh?” Kaito asked with no little amount of curiosity. To be honest, this may be the first time they talked about things outside of heists, and even if he hadn’t really shared anything, the fact that the Meitantei felt comfortable enough with him to share al this personal things, made him appreciate his trust even more.

“Yes and no. I’m sure you know that the Mansion is currently being used by someone else. Perhaps if I were to talk to him, he would not have a problem with sharing this huge place; however I would prefer to look somewhere else so we do not attract any unwanted attention.” Kaito knew this, and he even wondered what happened to the other occupant of the house since he hadn’t seen him in the times he came to visit. He supposed that sort of answered his question.

“As for Conan, when the arrangement for him to live with the Mouris was made, it was out of necessity and desperation. Later it was by choice of sorts, since I refused to go back to the States with my parents. In the end I was never really comfortable being around Ran and Uncle Kogorou; don’t take me wrong, despite his flaws he could be a great person, it’s just that we don’t really mix and Ran… well.” Shinichi left unsaid just how uncomfortable and painful was to live and to interact with the one you cherished the most without being able to tell her that the one she was missing was just next to him. “Conan have been hinting about moving out of there and come with me. And to be honest, I don’t really blame him” Shinichi gave Kaito an apologetic smile that somehow expressed a lot more than what his words told.

Kaito kind of understood. Even if he had never been completely alone, ever since his father’s death things were never the same in the Kuroba Home, so he spent an awful lot of time around the Nakamoris. The thought of having to live 24/7 around the dear and loud inspector or not being able to interact with Aoko in the same way they had always had sent chills down his spine… even if he had been distancing himself from them ever since he took up the mantle of Kid.

Speaking of the Mouris… “By the way Meitantei, have you talked to your girlfriend? I’m sure she is eager to be reunited with you!” Kaito asked, a sly smile adorning his face.

“She’s not my girlfriend idiot, at least not yet anyway. I haven’t talked to anyone besides my parents, and I won’t until I have sorted some things out.” Shinichi said with mild annoyance. He was just as eager to finally see her and being able to hold her, talk to her, or spend time with her without worrying if the antidote would stop working anytime soon. A soft smile adorned his face then, imagining their reunion.

“Oh! So you left a promise of love!” Kaito actually seemed delighted to be privy of the Meitantei’s love life, and prompted him to share as many details as he could.

Shinichi on the other hand suddenly got serious, smile dropping out of his face and even a slight undercurrent of sadness could be found in his eyes. “I confessed my feelings for her some time ago; I’m just… waiting for her answer.”

 Shinichi decided that he no longer wanted to talk about it so he asked instead “By the way KID, you never told me if there was a reason you decided o visit.”

“Just call me Kaito. You can call my other self KID if you want. He’s here by the way” Kaito said, pointing in the general direction of the door.

In that moment, just in front of one of the bookshelves near the door, a white figure began to appear.  His appearance was gradual, but not slow, which earned a surprised gasp from Shinichi.

“Gah! Please don’t do that again!” Shinichi said, pointing an accusing finger at the recently appeared thief, who merely grinned back

“But it is so fun!” Sobering a little, KID added, “Besides, I need to practice this new ability. I have more control of it than before; now I may decide if I want to appear or not, or even if I want to just be seen but not felt”.

“Go figures; I bet you are having the time of your life pranking and scaring people.”  Shinichi said in a deadpan tone, raising an unimpressed eyebrow at KID.

“Not yet, although I guess this will come in handy during Heists. More so if I can decide whenever I want people to pass through me or bump into me” a manic smile adorned both thieves faces when KID added in a too gleeful to be good way “Can you imagine Nakamori-Keibu’s face? Oh god I can already see it after him or the Task Force suddenly passes through me…”

“Just what the world needed… an actual Phantom Thief with a pranking streak a mile wide” Shinichi covered his eyes as he half murmured this. Deep down though, he was looking forward to watch those same faces too.

Finally standing up from his place in front of his Laptop, Shinichi headed outside of the library and towards the kitchen; glancing over his shoulder at the pair of thieves, Shinichi added “Well, are you actually going to tell me why are you here? Or will you keep changing the subject every time I ask? By they way, I’m going to have a snack, do you want some?”

The two thieves stared at each other, a wordless conversation passing between them. After a few seconds, they nodded in understanding before KID disappeared from sight in a cloud of smoke. Kaito then proceeded to follow the detective to the Kitchen, finding him retrieving something from the fridge. “We were just coming to see how were you doing, and also to tell you that you may hear from KID not too far in the future; the Pandora situation is not over yet” Kaito said as he perched himself on a stool near the counter.

“I thought so…” Putting a plate with some apple slices on in front of Kaito, Shinichi asked “are you planning on stealing the fake Pandora next?” while taking a plate of his own.

Kaito took one of the slices, making a noncommittal sound, but eventually answered “Not yet Meitantei, just like you, I still need to sort some things out before shutting down my business as KID. I’ll be stealing two or three other gems before the final one. And I expect to see you and Tantei-kun there joining the chase” Smiling again, he finished with “It is going to be so much fun with the four of us there!”

“Only you could find grand larceny entertaining…” Shinichi answered with an apple slice in his hand, and a fond smile in his face.

“What can I say, a regular life isn’t cut for me; then again, I don’t think you are one to talk, Mister ‘I Chase After Criminals no Matter How Dangerous or How Risky It Is’.” Kaito gave him a knowing look which was returned by the detective.

“True, I guess the life of a regular teenager isn’t fit for us”.

The silence that followed was a contemplative one, Kaito evaluating every possibility to actually ask the Detective for help with Snake and company and if he actually does, when and how could be the best way to ask him. As of now, Kaito was almost convinced to ask for their help; he knew they have connections to the Japanese government and some other international law enforcements that could be useful for his cause. Besides, he knew he could trust both of the detectives to keep his secret identity if he properly explains his motives and reasons.

For his part, Shinichi was trying to put together every bit of information that he had came across since the first time he met KID until the last heist and he was not liking it. He already knew at least part of the motives behind his thefts, and he also knew that whoever was pursuing him outside of the police, were not exactly your average criminals. He even briefly entertained the idea of them actually being a different branch of his own organization.

However he would not search for more information on it unless KID asks him too. He could respect his judgment and he trusted him to ask for help if he really needed to. He would just have to wait and worry for him in silence. That was the price of getting close to the Kaitou KID.

The silence was eventually broken by Kaito, who once he finished his apple snack bid the detective farewell, promising to stay in touch and disappearing in a puff of smoke.

Shinichi took the plates off the table while pursuing again thoughts about KID, although this time they were a lot less grim. In fact he was contemplating how his relationship with the pair of thieves had developed during the last week or so. Yes, he trusted the guy with really heavy stuff and they had even traded favors in the past. However this last days he had started to see what being more than an acquaintance could be with him. He had always thought of KID as some kind of friend, even if not a really close one, but he had never been sure if the guy felt the same. For all he knew, KID may think of him as just another annoying detective trying to put him behind bars, just a little bit smarter than the rest.

 Now, he was beginning to see what being an actual friend of KID could be. And he liked it.

Just when he was heading back to the library, his phone rang, startling him out of his thoughts. One look at the name ID displayed on screen and he felt himself frown in confusion. He knew for a fact that school was over, otherwise KID would not have come to visit; however he could not find a single reason for Ran to be calling him now.

In the end, he answered the call, although not without a bit of wariness.

_“Shinichi!? Is that you?”_ Ran asked before even greeting him back, and then almost as if talking only to herself she said _“Hum, I was sure you would not answer the call.”_

Then, again before he could even ask what that last muttered bit was, she continued _“Anyway, I heard from Conan-kun that you are coming back soon. Is it true? Are you coming back to school too?”_ Shinichi fully frowned this time. Ran sounded strange, angry and also nervous… as if afraid of his answer or not really wanting to believe it. This was not like Ran at all, so something should be really wrong with her, and it worried him.

When he asked her how she came across that bit of information, she said that it was Conan-kun who told her, which puzzled Shinichi even more. Conan knew he should not be spreading that kind of information, so for him to have told her of his ‘return’, something big should have happened.

He decided to ask him, at least for general details or for some of his reasons to have told her that. Over the phone, he heard him closing a door, which meant that he actually looked for some sense of privacy. That could not be good too.

_“I’m sorry about telling her, but you know she could be really scary when she wants to. Also, I can tell something is wrong with Ran, remember how she was acting strange before, well she suddenly got worse so I felt like mentioning you in hopes of calming her down a bit. It did not work. Shinichi, I think she is hiding something… even Genta-kun said how she had been acting strange lately”_

So even Genta-kun had noticed… it was not like Ran to show weaknesses if she could help it, so this must be really big… and Shinichi just hoped that whatever it was, it was not really dangerous or life threatening. He needed to talk to Haibara so she could release him sooner than anticipated. He needed to see Ran as soon as possible.

Before he could interrogate Conan some more, the child switched to his most childish tone to tell him that his Ran-neechan wanted to talk to him again. The change made him shudder… he now knew how Hattori must have felt every time he did that.

“Shinichi, when exactly are you coming back?” Her words were cutting, demanding, and she still sounded kind of angry. This made Shinichi hesitate in giving her a concrete answer.

“I don’t know yet Ran, sometime during next week I guess… there are still some things of the case I am currently working on that need to be sorted out first.”

“ _Fine. But I will be busy next week.”_ Was Ran trying to avoid him? Or could it be that she actually had already plans and his coming back disrupted them somehow? No, he was not going to jump to conclusions before having all the facts. He would talk to Ran soon and everything will be right again.

However, even if he promised himself not to jump to conclusions, he couldn’t help the ominous feeling that suddenly took him over. Something was very wrong, of that he was sure, he just didn’t know what.

She ended the call rather abruptly, leaving Shinichi to stare numbly at his phone. As Shinichi felt dread pooling on his stomach, he whispered to no one “Ran… what is wrong with you? What are you hiding?”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you liked this chapter as well! 
> 
> (feedback is greatly appreciated)


	8. Illusions

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Once again, thanks for reading and for leaving Kudos and Comments!
> 
> Short chapter, but I plan on updating again next weekend.
> 
> Hey, it came to my attention that Bolded dialogues could be quite distracting, so this chapter doesn't have anything bolded.
> 
> I would really like to know if you prefer it this way or with the bolds instead.

Ran’s call bothered Shinichi for several days after it happened, and even when in company of Haibara, Kaito or the Hakase, his mind couldn’t help but replay that strange phone conversation.

Ran sounded angry, mad even, but underneath it all, he detected a hint of nervousness that would have gone unnoticed to anyone else. This bothered him immensely, especially when coupled with her attitude from the last time they met. He recalled that she was distant, uncomfortable and mildly annoyed, as if she would rather be somewhere else instead.

And now, she had “plans” that just so happened to coincide with his tentative return.

Thoughts of her moving on crossed his mind again. Those thoughts had been haunting him ever since that dreadful phone call, however he was quick to dismiss them just as fast as they came. He promised himself that he would not jump to any conclusions without all the facts without talking to her and learning from her mouth and words what was going on. He was determined to do exactly that.

Besides, Conan had not told him that something like that was happening, and seeing as he lived with her, he was willing to take this as a good omen of sorts. Who knows… Maybe she did have previous plans with her friends or even a competition to win.

For now, he decided to focus on the present, and the leasing he was about to sign for what was to become his and Conan’s new home.

* * *

Something changed.

She couldn’t put her finger on it, but she was sure there was something different about Kuroba-kun. Apparently none of his closer friends or acquaintances had taken notice, but for her and her special powers and senses, the change was evident.

In fact, there were days where it was even more obvious than others.

Kuroba-kun had always exuded a steady aura full of defiance, self-confidence and mischief; however underneath it all, she managed to find a brilliant if bored mind and a lonely and somewhat burdened soul.  The fact that, aside of that, he was immune to her charms and spells intrigued her enough to try to own the young man, and when that failed, to attempt to kill him instead.

By now, she could actually count him as one of the few members of her circle of friends, and even if he is still skittish around her, and she only approaches him to tease him about his alter ego, or to deliver a warning, she knows he considers her as such too.

Speaking of warnings, she couldn’t help but remember how before his last heist, she tried to ask Lucifer if there was going to be something Kaito should be cautious of. His only response was that for once, he was not able to discern a clear path; that the future of the one who she could never own, was completely clouded as of after midnight.

This was not necessarily a bad thing, so even if she was slightly worried, she preferred to wait and see the results of that particular heist night afterwards.

News were not as encouraging as she had hoped, but not as bad as she had feared. On one hand, the news about someone shooting at KID almost at the end of the heist spread like wild fire, especially the bit about KID being badly injured; and if Hakuba’s worried face and attitude were to be taken in account, it was as bad as rumours said.

On the other hand, watching Kuroba arrive, more cheerful than ever, with an extra spring in his steps and protecting a feeling of lightness made most of her apprehension disappear. If not for whatever it was that changed in him.

There were a couple of days that she felt a strange energy coming out of him, something that strongly resonated with her magic core, almost as if it was calling to her. Then, there was that day that if not for her eyes telling her that Kuroba-kun was in front of her, she would have doubted his presence entirely. It was as if an echo of the real Kuroba was there instead… like he was a ghost of sorts.

This… intrigued her.

She decided to keep watching him, to keep analysing him until she came to a satisfying answer. She was determined to discover what was different with Kuroba, and if whatever it was, ended being life threatening to her friend, she was sure to be there to help him overcome it.

For a reasonable price, that is.

* * *

 

f Shinichi was honest with himself, he was both dreading and expecting this day to come. Being it in half apprehension and half contemplation but it was a day he could not avoid any longer.

Not that he really wanted to.

Haibara had finally released him officially, and he was ready to take his life back in his hands once more; or at least, as much as he could with the organization still out there.

He had a simple but effective plan of action in his head for how to do everything he wanted. His new home was ready, Conan’s adoption papers should be ready soon and he would be partially returning to his normal life as himself after all that time as a kid.

He also was planning to talk to Ran, tell her about Conan’s new status as a Kudo and finally talk to her about that love promise they left in standby.

He was so lost daydreaming on how their first official date would be once they sorted everything out, how he could kiss her whenever he wanted to, and even have her coming to his apartment with the excuse of visiting Conan-kun, clearly visualizing long afternoons in each other’s company, that he didn’t even notice that he had already reached the Detective Agency.

A soft smile crossed his face at the thought of finally seeing Ran and at the thought of her surprised face once she answered the door.

Just as he was going to knock on the door, he heard a voice he simply did not want to hear right now. Of all the times and places for him to have to deal with Sonoko, this was not one of them. By the sound of it, they were in the middle of some sort of gossip session, both of them giggling at something Sonoko said about what he was assuming was a frivolous topic.

Hearing some more laughter, Shinichi decided that it may be in his best interest if he returned later, when Sonoko was gone and he could talk to Ran freely and without interruptions. Destiny however had other plans for him, because just as he turned around to leave the agency, he heard his name enter their conversation.

“So, you said Shinichi-kun is coming back? When is that Mystery Geek going to be here?”

By now, Shinichi should know that his innate curiosity was not always a good thing for him and the fact that said curiosity landed himself in the body of a child should have been lesson enough for him to not follow his impulses and land himself in situations he would have liked to avoid otherwise.

As it is, Shinichi decided that it would be interesting to eavesdrop on their conversation, just to know what exactly they were saying about him.

“I don’t know Sonoko, sometime this week I guess. He wasn’t very specific last time we talked.” Ran said in an exasperated tone. Shinichi assumed they have had this exact conversation several times before since their phone call.

“But then, how are you supposed to get ready for your date, if you don’t even know when it is going to be? That husband of yours is so inconsiderate.”

“Oh, but I am going on a date tomorrow, just not with Shinichi”

A “wait, what?” was echoed both by Sonoko’s screech and Shinichi’s mind. Shinichi wanted to just barge inside and ask what this nonsense about Ran going on a date with someone else was; however, before he could act or reveal his presence behind the  closed door, his brain took notice that the conversation continued without him.

“You two are dating? Since when!? But I thought you liked Shinichi-kun…” Had Shinichi been paying attention, he would have noticed that Sonoko sounded just as distressed as he felt; however his mind was far too focused on the words that just left Ran’s mouth…

“We have been seeing each other for about a month, and honestly Sonoko what were you expecting? He just left without warning, almost never calls and whenever he does, he only gives excuses about this important case of his. I don’t even know where he is most of the time and I was not going to be waiting for him forever, so of course I would be moving on!”

The silence that followed was deafening. While inside the agency, Sonoko watched with incredulous eyes to her best friend. She just couldn’t believe what she was saying, because even if she was not as close to Shinichi as she was with Ran, she had always known that they shared a deep connection to one another, that their feelings for each other were genuine. This… this was unexpected. This was wrong in so many levels that she couldn’t grasp her mind around it.

In a last attempt to comprehend her friend behaviour, Sonoko finally said “And the promise? Didn’t you tell him to wait for you?”

Ran’s answer was delivered with a coldness so uncharacteristic that sent chills down on the spines of those listening to her.

“Well, as you can see, that’s no longer the case.”

* * *

 

Outside of the agency, Shinichi was frozen in shock, especially at the last part of the conversation; His mind repeating incessantly the same words, _“Ran moved on”_. He left the building in a daze, not even conscious of the action itself, and even less aware of his surroundings.

It could have started to rain bodies around him and he would have cared less.

At some point, tears began to flow, but he only noticed them once the wetness of his cheeks reached his collarbone. And even then, he did not made an effort to even try to dry them. He was distantly aware of having reached the Kudo Manor, and how, with mechanical movements, he entered what had always been his home.

He did not remember how he reached his bedroom; but he did know that once his body touched his mattress, what was left of his feeble self-restraint completely shattered, breaking down in painful sobs.

His worst fear just materialized, and even if he managed to come back, he was already late. He had lost her… and it seems it was all his fault.

He was quickly falling in a pit of despair, when a dark thought entered his mind. If she really was so upset with him, why did she ask for him to wait? Why did she had to play with him in such a cruel way? Why not completely reject him and his feelings from the start?

The sting of betrayal left from this thoughts burned him so much that an uncontrollable rage was building rapidly inside him.

Rage at Ran for not telling him, for playing him, for betraying him. But most of all, he felt rage at himself for not noticing the signs, for hurting her so much with his constant absences, for his lack of communication, for making her cry, for not being what she deserved, for lying her, for leading her on in the first place… for not minding his own business, landing himself in a situation that virtually stole everything from him.

His rage kept building up until it finally found an outlet, so with a yell of despair, Shinichi flung a pillow against the door. Several objects followed the same fate, as Shinichi screamed out until he had no voice left and his throat felt hoarse.

And just as it came, the overwhelming rage left, leaving in his path only the numbness that precludes depression; something that Shinichi knew would be his companion for a really long time.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok guys, I don't want any Ran hate here. I adore this girl to pieces and I can asure you that her actions have an explanation.
> 
> (Other than that it was part of the original storyline for this fic; you'll just have to wait for a bit to get it)
> 
> Again, feedback is greatly appreciated.


	9. Shadows

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know I promised to update before this, but I got a call for a Job and my entire focus went on passing my tests for it.
> 
> good news, I got the Job. Bad news, there was a problem with the finances of the firm and they decided my position was going to dissapear. So yeah... I think it was the shortest amount of time I've worked somewhere.
> 
> Then again, a few days later I've got a teaching position as a foreign language teacher at an elementary school and my time got completely consumed.
> 
> Anyway, life goes on. Here is your chapter.

To be completely honest, when Kaito dropped by to visit Shinichi, he felt quite scared. The front door, while closed, was not locked, the entire house felt eerily silent and tense, and the Meitantei was nowhere in sight.

Knowing how the detective tended to find trouble wherever he went, Kaito felt his fears were at least partially justified. Even so, he decided to search the house in hopes of finding its owner… or clues of his whereabouts.

The kitchen, the library and the living room were the same as the last time he was there, so he proceeded to climb the stairs to search the upper levels. The first few rooms he inspected showed no indication of being altered in any way, however once he approached what he knew to be Shinichi’s room, he found several items carelessly tossed around the door, as if they had been thrown outside without second thought.

Shinichi’s bedroom was…. Well he wasn’t sure if it should still be called that. There were books tossed around everywhere, a phone that was thrown against a wall, was now laying in pieces at the foot of the bed, there was a pillow precariously sitting on top of a nightstand, where once used to be a rather pretty lamp. Sheets and blankets were thrown in several directions too.

And in the middle of all this, curled on top of the coach of a bed that miraculously was still in its place, was the owner of the room.

Any other day, the detective would have already noticed his presence, and would have already greeted him with at least one snarky remark. Today, he just continued to lay motionless in his bed, his breathing pattern being the only thing betraying that he was in fact, just ignoring the presence of the other person in the room.

Yes, Kaito was now officially concerned.

He debated if it would be o.k. to approach him, and maybe try to find out what happened, or if he should simply leave him alone for the time being and return at a later date. In the end, he decided to try the former, in hopes of not being driven to do the later.

Just as he expected, Shinichi’s first reaction was to tell him to go away, curling in on himself even more tightly; and he would have done so, if not for the rawness in his voice and the tiredness of his words. He prodded him gently again for answers, coaxing him to unburden himself of whatever was causing him this enormous grief.

At first he only received silence to his inquiries, so he thought that maybe he could just offer general support and hope that it helped him somehow.

Then, the detective uncurled himself, laying on his back, without even trying to open his red swollen eyes. There were dried tear streaks running down his cheeks and to be completely honest, Kaito had never seen Shinichi’s hair as messed up as now.

And then… then Shinichi spoke.

He told him everything, from childhood dreams, to his apparent curse of encountering murders; from his love of books to the loneliness he generally tries to conceal with them; he told him about Gin, the organization and tropical land; about his absent, but supporting parents and his struggles with his life as Conan.

And finally, finally he told her about Ran. Ran as one of his first friends and as one of the few constants in his life. Ran, the woman he had loved for a very long time and the one he thought would be expending the rest of his life with. Ran, the one that apparently got tired of waiting for him and finally, moved on without a thought… the one that asked him to wait for her even though she already had someone else in her life.

It was not an easy tale, especially since everything he said was a jumbled mess of ideas and interconnected thoughts; it was a lengthy tale but it also was not an entirely detailed one. Then again, it seemed that getting it out was exactly what Shinichi needed because once he finished, Kaito could tell he was feeling immensely lighter and unburdened.

He knew the detective was not ok, far from it actually, but at least he knew that this conversation helped him take the edge off some of his problems so he could start a sorely needed emotional healing.

They were silent afterwards, as words seemed to be unnecessary at the moment; Shinichi taking in the silent support the other teen was giving him, and Kaito freely giving it while also pondering about the new information he gained that evening.

“Thank you, Kaito. I really needed this.” It was Shinichi who broke the silence first offering a weak but sincere smile. Kaito waved off Shinichi’s further attempts to apologize for something that, in Kaito’s opinion was long overdue for the detective. He was just glad to have helped him even if said help was in the form of an ear willing to listen without tossing out judgment.

Afterwards, Kaito tried to lighten the mood with small jokes and even teasing the detective about the horrible state of his bedroom. With a shrug, Shinichi told him that it did not really mattered that much since he would be moving out of the manor soon.

“Remind me to give you the new address; even if I’m sure you and your clone could find us easily enough, this way you’ll know that you are always welcomed and expected”

A blinding smile was the only answer he received.

A glance to the window told Kaito it was time for him to head home; he told the detective as much and even if he was reluctant to leave him alone, in the end he left.

Unknown to the detective, he also left a small dove to watch over him, just in case.

 

* * *

 

If you were to ask anybody just how loud the alarm clock on Shinichi’s bedroom was that particular morning, they would tell you that they didn’t even know an alarm sounded at all. However, if you were to ask Shinichi himself, he would tell you that the infernal thing could have easily awoken the whole neighbourhood with its loudness.

Or maybe it was just the horrible state in which he woke up that particular morning.

His head hurt horribly, and his brain felt as if it was covered in cotton; his movements were sluggish and he even tripped several times with some of the items that were still laying around in his bedroom’s floor.

Taking a shower helped him clear his mind, though not that much.

His usual cup of coffee resulted at first in both a blessing and a curse. While it helped him chase away the last remains of sleep and even eased a little his headache, it also proved to be torture to his abused throat. However a few sips of his preferred beverage later, his throat eased itself a bit, allowing Shinichi to enjoy his coffee in peace.

He briefly wondered when was the last time he enjoyed this particular routine, and soon regretted thinking about it, as memories of that last time came unbidden to the front of his mind.

The last time he replayed almost this exact routine, was the day after the school play, when Ran was sure he and Conan were one and the same for the first time and Haibara gave him a dose of an experimental antidote so he could keep his cover.  He could remember how he used it to surprise her at the school play with some help from Sonoko and how he was so happy to be back in his old body that thoughts of being back to being Conan almost slipped out of his mind.

It was that time when he almost confessed his feelings for her for the first time, at the same restaurant that his parents got engaged. That time when he lost a great opportunity in favour of a case.

With a derisive snort, he put his coffee cup on the Kitchen counter _“No wonder she moved on…”_

Then again… had she asked him to stay, he would have done it without complain. He is not hypocrite enough to say that he would have not been distracted at first, or that his mind would not have attempted to solve the case with just the little bits and pieces he managed to overhear, but he also knew that once the initial rush of excitement had died down a bit, he would have been able to focus entirely on her… just as it was supposed to be.

But she told him to leave, and so he left.

And now as he thinks about it, he could remember how, underneath the excitement of the case, he felt something odd when she told him to go already. At the moment, he dismissed it as part of the thrill any good mystery gives him. Later he thought it was a warning his body gave telling him that the antidote was about to ran out.

Now… now that he could recall that memory without the bias the incomplete happiness that being with Ran for a few minutes gave him, he knew exactly what he felt; underneath it all, he felt disappointment.**

Disappointment on the situation, maybe on the timing of a case, his unavoidable curiosity but above all, disappointment at Ran, for not holding onto him, of not reminding him that they were there for them, not for a crime or a mystery… just them enjoying their time together…

And maybe it was petty of him right now, and maybe he was still sore about what he learnt the day before at the detective Agency, but at that moment, he was feeling great resentment towards Ran because, even then, when he hadn’t been gone long, after all those times she demanded him to came back home… after those calls and all the worry, she preferred to send him to play with his mysteries instead of having him focused on her as he was supposed to be doing that day.

Shaking his head a little, he decided to get ready for school and force himself out of that train of thoughts, knowing that right now he was not in his right mind and that it would be better to deal with those feelings when his head was cool again and he could think with facts and not emotions.

 

* * *

 

The day at Teitan High started in the same way as every previous one. Students arrived at different hours, some of them early, some of them late and even some of them arrived running hopping to reach their classrooms before their names got called in the attendance list.

By lunch time, the rumour that Kudou Shinichi was finally back was in full swing and everybody wanted to make sure that it was not in fact, just a rumour.

Then again, nobody had really seen him, mostly due to his agreement with the principal so he had been taking all the tests he was missing in a private room, and partially because even if it was currently lunch time, he did not feel like being around anybody for any reason.

So here he was, at the most cliché place to find a moody teenager, berating himself for falling into that stereotype and consoling himself with the thought that at least it was helping him to be away from everybody else.

He was seated beside the door, his gaze lost somewhere among the clouds in the sky, a troubled expression across his face and a small folded note that he kept passing from hand to hand in a subconscious manner.

His thoughts were all over the place now that he did not have to concentrate on his tests; he was done with all of last year’s and now only remained the few from this one. At this rate, he may be able to join his normal classes by next day.

He caught himself playing with the note and a small smile crossed his features. He had found it earlier that morning on the table that was behind the entrance door of his house, and he would have bypassed it completely if not for the pink rose that was placed above it.

The contents of the note were really simple but not less heart-warming, and contrary to what you may expect from a note from the Kaitou KID, this one was really direct and leaving no place to misinterpretation or confusion.

It kind of made him wonder just how an awful image he projected the day before that even KID refrained himself from leaving a riddle that could be interpreted in several different ways.

In it, KID reasserted their budding friendship, hoping that they would get closer with time. He also told him that he was really sorry with what was happening to him but that he was sure that he was strong enough to overcome it.

He also told him that he was willing to stay by his side as long as he want him.

The note was signed with his custom KID doodle; however said doodle somehow managed to look teasing while apparently blowing a kiss. To be completely honest, a real although short laugh escaped Shinichi’s lips when he saw it. Trust KID to be able to lift his spirits with a simple drawing.

Casting a glance at his clock, he noticed that lunch time was almost over, so with a weary sigh he decided to head back to the private room where he was taking his tests.

He was halfway there when a not entirely welcome voice interrupted him. “So! In the end the rumours were true! Look who finally decided to join us!”

In front of him, the owner of the voice, Sonoko, was accompanied by two other figures, one of which, quite frankly he was nowhere near ready to face, let alone deal.

“And it seems that you are already getting popular again, Shinichi”, were the first words that Ran uttered when seeing him for the first time in months. There was bitterness and a slight jealousy hidden behind what otherwise could be described as a teasing voice. The look in her eyes talked about offense and betrayal and her smile looked strained 

Beside her, seemingly oblivious on what was happening, Sera Masumi eyed him with barely concealed curiosity. She was inspecting him from head to toe, as if looking for something that could tell her that the one in front of her was in fact the famed Heisei Holmes. Her scanning got to an end when her eyes caught what got Ran’s attention in the first place. A small folded note that was still on Shinichi’s hand.

A curious glint shone in her eyes, one that did not go unnoticed by Shinichi, so when the words “Oh, is that a Love Letter? Who sent it?” escaped her lips, Shinichi was not in the least surprised.

In a tone that was a bit harsher than he really intended, Shinichi answered their question with a “That, is none of your business” that took them aback completely, especially when he tried to keep on walking, leaving them behind.

Something about his cold behaviour rubbed them the wrong way, though it was Sonoko who understood first what might be actually happening. She weakly tried to hold Shinichi’s wrist when he was attempting to go, and as their eyes met in that brief instant, they both knew the other’s thoughts and feelings. She understood that he knew about Ran, and he that she understood what he was going through.

She freed his wrist, offering him a sad smile that he briefly returned before resuming his way back to the private room.

 

* * *

 

The visit to the Meitantei was not what Kaito was expecting.

He was hopping to have a rather amusing evening filled with snark, and was even kind of looking forward to exchange some witty remarks. Instead, he got an evening heavily charged with angst and desperation, with more than a glimpse into the mind and the life of a young man that was as confusing and unpredictable as was interesting. A man that was in just a great need for someone not just willing to listen, but able to understand what was happening with his mind and his life at that exact moment.

No, it was not what Kaito was looking for when he arrived at Beika, but he was grateful nonetheless, because that meant that even if they had never been that close, Kudou Shinichi decided that he was trustworthy enough to bare his soul to him without having to mind his words or his thoughts.

Then again, everything he learned the day before, gave him a lot to think about too.

More than once, and even since he found out about who “Conan-kun” actually was, Kaito thought that both his life and the detective’s were pretty similar. Both had to hide from their loved ones, both were being forced to lie to protect the people they care about, they even had problems with people with a strange sense of fashion and even kind of had a bounty over their heads.

Both had to stay away from the one they loved for fear of putting them on harm’s way.

Life already had demanded payment from the Meitantei in the form of his now lost childhood love. Kaito was not sure if the same thing was about to happen to himself and Aoko, or if it already happened, seeing as she now spends far more time with Hakuba than with him.

Sighing loudly enough to get the attention of the rest of his classmates, Kaito decided to send a prayer to Lady Luck so he could enjoy his time with Aoko, no matter how brief it were, and that they would not end in a situation as bad as the one the Meitantei had with his own Childhood love.

A moment later, when the school bell signalled the end of the day, Kaito quickly gathered his things before approaching the girl in question. She was about to get out of the classroom while talking with Keiko about something when he called out to her.

“Hey Aoko! How about we get some Ice cream before heading home? I heard there was a new Ice Cream Parlour near the Clock Tower”

In the end, Kaito’s attempt to spend some quality time with Aoko turned out as a funny outing with his friends, as not only Keiko but also Hakuba and even Akako tagged along to try the so called new Parlour.

Yes, Kaito did not know just how much time he had to enjoy this fake sense of normalcy, but he was going to get the better of it while it lasted.

 

* * *

 

Shinichi did not see the three girls again until the school bell signalled the end of the day, and even then it was a complete coincidence, since they accidentally met at the school gates.

With quiet acknowledgement, the four of them decided to head home together. At the front of their group, Sera and Ran were talking rather animatedly about something Shinichi did not bother to pay attention to. Behind them, an unusually quiet Sonoko was walking at a slow pace, matching her steps with Shinichi’s.

“Are you O.K. Shinichi-kun?” it was Sonoko who first broke the silence between the two. Her question could be taken in several instances, one of which could be the fact that Shinichi had been pressing the bridge of his nose constantly on the last five minutes. Then again she could have also been referring to what happened earlier that day.

He decided to ignore the later and answer the former so with a: “It’s alright, Sonoko. It’s just a killer headache”, offering her a weak smile as they kept walking in silence.

A couple blocks later, it was time for the four of them to part ways, with Sonoko and Sera going on a different direction than Ran and Shinichi. They said their farewells, although Sonoko shoot a worried glance towards Shinichi. With a small movement of his head he tried to tell her he would be alright before they turned back and started walking.

The silence that befell Ran and Shinichi was uncomfortable to say the least, in part because Ran seemed to be mad about something, and Shinichi’s headache was starting to worsen up. It wasn’t until they almost reached the detective agency that Ran broke the silence with a question of her own.

“Shinichi, who gave you that letter?”

To an outsider eavesdropping on their conversation, that question would seem completely out of the blue, especially since they had not exchanged a lot of words since Shinichi got back, nor had she asked him the usual questions of how long would he stay this time or where had he been since the last time they saw each other.

Then again, both of them knew exactly what she was talking about, and in Shinichi’s case, the question did not surprised him in the least.

What actually surprised him was the glaring jealousy imbued in her tone and the hostility he felt emanating from her demeanour. He directed her an unamused smile as He just could not believe the nerve of her to demand an answer to her inquiry.

His answer was given with a colder tone than he really intended “Just as I said earlier, it is none of your business, Ran. Especially since you no longer have any authority over my sentimental affairs, what with you already having someone else to worry about. However, since I know you would not leave it alone, I’ll have you know that a good friend of mine gave it to me earlier today”.

Shinichi knew he sounded bitter and angry, he knew he was not ready to confront her and that if he stayed there a minute longer, he might say something that he would regret later.

Turning around to face her, he addressed her again, this time noticing her shocked expression and the underlining guilt hidden in her eyes. “Look Ran, this is not a good time for us to speak. I have a killer headache and my mind is not as clear as I would like it. Let’s talk later, o.k.?”

And without waiting for an answer, he turned around and left, leaving behind a speechless Ran that simply did not know what went wrong in what was supposed to be a simple conversation.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ** I don't know if it was just my imagination, or if it was something that the animators did without actually noticing it, but I have always felt that Shinichi's face at that moment was not one of gratitude, but one of slight dissapointment. 
> 
> Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this. Feedback as always is appreciated.
> 
> see you soon!


	10. Bonds

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ahhhh, well.  
> I tried to not let this story fall under my (quite frankly) horrible updating schedule.
> 
> Seems i am failing so far...(though to be honest, i think this is the story i had updated more frequently in the last year... )
> 
> Anyway, here it is your chapter. if all goes as i want, i might update again before march ends. (chapter 11 is halfway drafted so...)
> 
> Thanks for your comments and Kudos, they really made me smile :D

Arriving to the agency was usually a quiet affair. There were times when Ran arrived to her Father on the phone with inspector Megure, or talking to a client. Sometimes, she found him watching a horse race on the TV or snoring quietly on his desk. There were also times when she arrived to the sounds of Conan-kun friends on the receiver, joking about the latest Kamen Yaiba episode or their latest adventure in town.

This time however, she arrived to an empty office and, although this was not a rare occurrence, it was kind of strange to come back home and not be greeted by someone.

She shrugged it as unimportant, and seeing as her father neither left her a note on the desk nor a message on her phone, she assumed that, wherever he ran off to, he should be back shortly.

Home alone and with only her thoughts to accompany her, she proceeded to prepare lunch while waiting for the rest of her small “family” to arrive.

She took out some vegetables from the fridge, chopping them in small pieces to be added to the stew she was planning to serve. Cooking had always been a soothing activity to her, and to be completely honest, just what she needed after the strange conversation/confrontation with Shinichi moments earlier.

She understood why he was upset, mad even that she had moved on without telling him that she was going to do it, especially since she found herself someone else with that in mind specifically. Then again, she was upset with him too since he never actually spoke to her about anything nowadays. He didn’t talk to her about what was going on with his life recently, or what his problems or struggles really were. All that she knew was that he was in the middle of a really complicated case, that he could not give her details about it and that he wanted her to wait for him to come back.

He never gave her a reason why she should. Never gave her a reason to trust.

And now that he was back, he just wanted her to understand, to still be waiting for something she didn’t have the assurance that would eventually happen, because for all she knows, he could be away for another 5 years and he would still be telling her to wait because he was close to solve the strange case.

And she… she really did not want to wait that long.

_“Don’t you think that Conan-kun and Kudo-kun are really similar? And the fact that they are in constant communication even if Kudo-kun doesn’t talk to you that much is kind of suspicious”_

Yes. That was what started everything back then. What appeared to be a harmless question posed by Sera-chan, actually made her pause in her tracks. More than once she had noticed that their similarities went from their physical appearance, their likes and dislikes, the way they act and even to the way they think. Conan-kun was in everything a really good copy of what Shinichi was at his age.

At first, she chalked it out as admiration for an older cousin because, who did not try to be like their idol when they were that young? But then, it sometimes became quite difficult to distinguish where said admiration ended and Conan’s own personality began. Watching him roam in a crime scene made her have a lot of flashbacks of when she and Shinichi were that young too.

The times when Conan acted beyond his years when he thought nobody saw him were also disconcerting.

 _“Sometimes I think, if it wasn’t impossible, that Conan-Kun and Kudo-kun are one and the same!”_ was the complain Sonoko made later that same day. And that really struck a chord inside Ran that she had discarded once because of the sheer absurdity of it.

Especially since the moment she was first convinced of it, Conan and Shinichi appeared both at the same place, at the same time.

The school play and the subsequent days were like a dream. They started unexpectedly, with Shinichi appearing without further notice and with him disappearing in the same way: With him appearing to solve a crime and with him disappearing while solving another.

She was disappointed that he appeared, and she was still having a hard time believing he was actually back. Her disappointment stemmed in the fact that she actually wanted Conan to be her long lost friend; she was actually hoping to confront him and made him trust her enough to tell her what happened to him to make him that way.

She had a hard time believing he was there because of that too. Because she was really convinced that the one in front of her was the same kid that had been living with her for the past months… but the truth was that, the facts, her eyes told her otherwise. Shinichi and Conan were their separate entities and no matter what she wanted, that was the real hard truth.

Even if that circumstances were never repeated again afterwards. And even if day by day she again became convinced of the exact opposite those facts told her that time.

Sera’s words did not help her in the least.

The sound of the door being opened from the outside broke her out of her cooking reverie. Her father or one of the objects of her thoughts was finally home. Plastering a somewhat happy smile on her face, she turned around to greet whoever just arrived. Said smile was quickly erased form her face at the sight that was standing on the door.

An unconscious Conan was being held in her father’s arms while the detective looked like he had just lived through some of the most stressing moments of his life.

 

* * *

 

 

“Danm, Kudo-kun”

Haibara Ai stared at her phone for what could be the million time in the past two hours. She had been trying to get a hold of the detective the moment she noticed there was something wrong with Conan.

She knew that he found school really boring, even if since the split with his older self he had been acting more like a kid his age, and that he tended to get lost on his thoughts especially if he was thinking about a case or some kind of mystery.

But today, today it was more than that. To a casual observer, Conan was lost in thought as usual, tuning out the voices of the rest of his classmates and even the voices of the Shounen Tantei-dan. But what casual observers could not know, was that whenever that happened, Conan-kun’s eyes got a strange light that betrayed the powerful mind that was lurking behind.

That light had been absent the whole day.

The fact that he shortly after began to show signs of discomfort for any kind of light or sound was what actually rang the alarm bells inside Haibara’s head.

The drop that spilled the vase was when, during P.E., Edogawa Conan collapsed.

He just fell, as if the life was drained out of him, leaving him motionless in the middle of the football field to the horror of the rest of their classmates.

She had been texting the older Kudo to see if he was alright, seeing that the younger one was acting strange. She started to call him nonstop after the younger one collapsed.

And she still could not get a hold of him. Even after several hours. Even after Kogoro Mouri showed up as legal guardian of Edogawa Conan and took charge of the situation. Even after the older detective took Conan home after the school doctor deemed him good enough to be moved.

She tried to go with them; the Shounen Tantei-dan tried to go too. But the elder Mouri just told them to go home and that he would call them if their friend got ill again.

And Kudo still was not picking up his phone!

At first she was annoyed with him, thinking that surely he already stumbled upon another murder case and was busy trying to solve it, while she had to deal with whatever happened to Edogawa-kun. That was until she remembered how KID mentioned that he and his clone were mentally connected so one could know what the other was feeling or thinking.

Apparently both versions of Kudo were not experiencing anything like that. But… what if whatever happened to Edogawa-kun was also happening, or has already happened to the elder Kudo? What if just as Edogawa-kun dropped down without further notice in the middle of the class, the elder Kudo was unconscious somewhere?

Hopping against hope, Haibara directed her steps towards the Kudo Manor; perhaps her friend managed to get home before whatever happened to Edogawa-kun affected him too.

A couple of minutes later, she was ringing the bell at the manor, waiting rather impatiently for someone to answer the door before she had to resort to drastic measures (a.k.a force the lock so she could let herself in). Fortunately, someone opened the door, though not who she was expecting.

“Haibara-san?” it was the civilian form of the Kaitou Kid who answered the door, sporting a rather troubled frown and concerning tightness around his eyes.

Haibara just knew that something wasn’t right at that exact moment. “Where’s Kudo-kun?” she asked without any preamble. Judging by the startled jump the KID gave, and the fact that he only ushered her inside the Manor without answering her question, he knew that indeed something wasn’t right with Kudo, although it seemed that KID had been tending to him, or at least trying to find out what was wrong with him.

Once inside, Kaito finally told her what was happening. Apparently, he decided to check on the detective after his emotional break down the other day; “Imagine my surprise when, after I let myself in, wanting to surprise him, the surprised one was me. I just found him leaning against a wall, panting heavily and holding his head in what I could just assume was a horrible headache!”

Not uttering another word, both of them climbed up the stairs, heading towards Kudo’s bedroom. Both of them were equally worried, for their friend, even if they were not exactly worried for the same reasons.

“He passed out shortly after I managed to put him on the bed. He hasn’t moved since. Right now, it is as if he is just sleeping, but no matter what I do, I am unable to wake him”

“Just like Edogawa-kun…”

“Tantei-kun is in the same state!?”

A nod was Haibara’s only answer. She then proceeded to examine the unconscious form of one Kudo Shinichi, just to be sure that he was indeed asleep just as his smaller counterpart. Satisfied with what she could observe, she directed her gaze towards the KID, who was looking at her still with the same troubled gaze from earlier.

“There’s not much we can do but wait. Whatever happened to Edogawa-kun, happened to Kudo-kun too; I am going back to the Hakase so I could collect some things to take a blood sample. Hopefully whatever this is, is not a side reaction from the apoptoxin mixed with that mystical gem of yours”

With that, she turned to leave, only returning some minutes late to take the aforementioned blood sample.

Kaito left a couple of hours later too, leaving in his stead his phantom clone.

* * *

 

Edogawa Conan woke up at midnight, feeling refreshed, and rather content.

He also knew that something was different in him. Something had changed, but he did not know what.

Seeing it was quite late, he decided it was a good idea to sleep some more, so without another though he simple rolled around and went back to sleep.

 

* * *

 

 

Mouri Kogoro noticed the exact moment the child woke up, and how he simply rolled around to sleep some more.

Part of him was relieved. The brat was finally alright, putting an end to the long hours filled with worry and apprehension in behalf of the child. Another was kind of annoyed. Couldn’t the boy be more considerate to those who had been looking for him to at least reassure them that he was indeed aright?

Anyway, sighing in relief he moved out of the room briefly, just to inform Ran of this latest development, biding her good night and finally allowing himself some much needed and deserved rest.

 

* * *

 

Kudo Shinichi woke up around 9 o’clock the next day. And the moment he was conscious enough to think properly he knew.

He was sharing a link with his younger counterpart. Just like Kaito and KID did.


	11. News

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ah... sorry for the delay?  
> I won't bore you with excuses (yet), so go on and read your chapter.

Shinichi brew himself a new pot of coffee before retreating to the library. This new development was not something he was actually expecting, though it was not one that took him completely by surprise. There already was a precedent, even if he thought that, given his and Conan’s nature, they wouldn’t be sharing the same traits as the KIDs.

He briefly wondered if Conan had already noticed their new mental link.

A text message from his mother shook him out of his musings. Apparently the paperwork needed for them to “adopt” Conan into the Kudo Family officially was done and he needed to go to Kisaki Eri’s firm to collect them.

He knew this was bound to happen, but he thought it would take longer; then again if they were done, he could be able to finally start moving to their new apartment.

They could start to move forward, and he could start to move on.

 

* * *

 

 

Around midday, Shinichi was standing in front of the Café Poirot, trying to decide if he was really about to do what he planned the moment he had Conan’s paperwork in his hands. He knew that it was necessary and even a courtesy, but he was not exactly sure he really was prepared to do it.

Steeling himself he took the stairs that would lead him to the Mouri Detective Agency, and once there, he rang the bell and waited for the detective to open the door.

“What are you doing here, Brat? Ran is not here, nor is the freeloader, so you can come later if you want”

“Actually, I want to talk to you, if that’s ok”

A stunned expression crossed the older detective before moving aside to let the other inside. They settled themselves on the couches where the detective usually attended his clients, with a heavy silence hanging between them.

Kogoro regarded the teen carefully. He could see that this Shinichi was not the same one that grew up with his daughter, nor the same one that came back some months later when there was a murder during a school play.

This Kudo Shinichi carried a weariness that was not there before; he also looked more tired, even dispassionate. There was also a veiled awareness about his surroundings that the arrogant teen from before lacked.

Something happened to his daughter’s childhood friend during his absence, something really serious, and to be honest, he wasn’t sure if he really wanted to know what it was.

 “I wanted to talk to you in private, without Ran or Conan to distract us. And I wanted to thank you, in the name of my family, but most of all, I wanted to thank you for myself”

The speech took Kogoro by surprise, but before he could voice his confusion, Shinichi continued with his explanations, ones that sounded as if he read the older detective’s mind.

He thanked him for taking Conan in without further notice, for providing for him and for letting him tag along whenever there was a case. He thanked him for caring for Conan, even if he doesn’t want to really acknowledge it. He thanked him for all the times he worried for him, for all the times he looked out for him and for not abandoning him to his fate.

“Believe it or not, it means a lot to me”

“Why are you telling me this?”

Handing him Conan’s paperwork, Shinichi answered “Because Conan is now officially a Kudou, and although I know that he cares for you and you for him. He is going to be moving out of your home soon, just as soon as I finish setting up our new home”

Kogoro remembered Eri telling him something about this, vague words that could be taken in lots of directions, this being one of those. He never thought that, those words were really a hidden warning to prepare him for what was to come.

He dismissed Shinichi a few minutes later, promising to have Conan’s things ready for when he needed them, while silently wondering if he was really ready to let the child go.

_“It’s not like I have a choice on the matter anyway…”_

 

* * *

 

 

Shinichi’s next stop was the apartment complex where He and Conan would be moving in soon. Admittedly, he favored the place from the beginning, since it was rather close to the mansion, and near enough both of their schools but without having to share part of the walk back home with anyone.

The apartment he chose was on a fifth floor, and it was near the Teimizu River, so it offered a really nice view from the balcony without having to deal with the river at all.

Yes, he could actually see himself or Conan using said balcony as a small safe heaven, especially if any of them decided to try and play some violin.

Before coming to the complex, he contacted his would-be landlady to announce himself. He was going to finally sign the contract and get the keys so he could start moving his and Conan’s stuff.

He was also thinking of bringing some of his own furniture so he could better accommodate some of his books here too, but decided to do that later with Conan so he could pick his own bedroom too.

Pocketing the keys and his copy of the lease, he noticed that it was almost time to go pick Conan. Deciding on proving their new mental link and its abilities, he sent a thought to Conan telling him that he was picking him up at the school gate, so they could run some errands.

Without waiting for an answer, he headed towards the elementary school instead.

 

* * *

 

 

Smiling slightly while trying to steal something from Aoko’s bento box, Kaito distracted himself from the conversation at hand. Somehow Aoko had roped Keiko and Akako into discussing some new bakery store and, while he would usually be the first one to suggest go and try the cakes, this time a much more interesting conversation was taking place in his head.

Last night, after the Meitantei collapsed in his own home, and after he left him in the hands of the little scientist, he and KID decided it would be a good idea to mount guard just in case something bad were to happen.

He was equally worried about Tantei-Kun, but since he had someone to look after him in the form of one Mouri Kogoro, he decided to stick by the Meitantei instead.

The live documentary of the night was amusing… and not because the detective was doing something unusual; but because the Phantom Thief got a great opportunity to explore the Kudou Manor in its entirety.

 He knew that the Kudous had a big Detective novels’ collection… but he never thought it was _that_ big.

Now however, Kaito was listening to his counterpart narrate how the detective was finally alright and seemingly unharmed, and how, after a rather amusing morning routine, he was headed towards the Kisaki Law Firm instead.

Both Kaito and KID decided that since Shinichi was ok, there was no need for them to keep tabs on him still.

Even if they were kind of curious of what kind of lady managed to marry Mouri Kogoro in the first place.

And that was what they were actually discussing. KID was sprouting some theory of her being a sweet and compassionate woman that always fought for her ideals; Kaito answered that he thought she was actually a ruthless lawyer that was a softy deep down. KID then said that if that was the case, that maybe she used to sass Kogoro constantly making the poor detective sputter in annoyance.

Kaito let out a quiet snort that tried to cover with a cough.

The truth was that, they both knew the so called Queen of the Court would not had married the old detective if there was not some kind of common ground between them, something beyond physical attraction or even plain admiration.

Maybe, at a later date, they would ask Shinichi to introduce them to her. There was nothing wrong on having a good lawyer among your acquaintances.

 

* * *

 

 

When the detective boys saw Conan-kun at the entrance gate of the elementary school, they all sighed in relief at seeing their friend safe and sound. To be completely honest, they were worried sick about him and spent a really good portion of the night talking among themselves planning lots of contingency plans in case Conan was not ok when morning came.

They were quite sleep-deprived, but the moment they spotted their friend, they could not help but go and dog pile him in greeting.

All except for Haibara that is.

They bombarded him with questions about his apparent illness, tried to see if they could spot something amiss with their friend and didn’t let him go until they were satisfied with their assessments.

That did not stopped their concerned glances towards their friend from time to time, just to make sure that there was not a repeat of yesterday’s events. However, by the time lunchtime came, they were relaxed again in his presence and were joking like any other day.

Haibara took advantage of a small lull in the kids’ chatter to quietly ask Conan if he was really O.K. and if he knew what happened to him, especially since it seemed that his older self was affected by it too.

“I’m not really sure what happened but, by the time I woke last night I knew something was different. I still haven’t figured out what that something is”

“Then, just as I told KID yesterday, let’s hope it is not an adverse side effect of that gem of his with the residue of the Apoptoxin”

A couple of hours later, Conan finally understood what happened to the both of he and Shinichi as a thought that was not really his own entered his mind telling him that Shinichi was going to pick him up later at the school gate to run some errands.

 

* * *

 

 

The whispers along the halls were curious at first. The fact that Mouri Ran looked sleep deprived the day after Kudou’s reappearance was source of a lot of gossip. When the school bell sounded and Kudou was still absent, gossip turned from something silly to something down right hilarious. Some were saying that the welcome back party between the two of them got so wild that only one of them got out somewhat alive; others said that surely their little party was horribly interrupted by a murder and a mystery and that they could not get out of wherever they were because of this; some even said that Ran beat the hell out of Kudo in retribution of his constant absences.

Truth is, nobody really knew what happened but everybody was really eager to speculate.

There were also some students that decided not to partake in the gossip making trend, one of them being a complete surprise among the student body, since she was one that never turned down a juicy gossip, more so if it came from her favorite “Married Couple”.

The fact was that Sonoko did not need the gossip, and especially not when it was so far from reality. She knew for a fact that there was no welcome back party between her two friends, that there was no murder (yet), and that definitely they were not a married couple anymore.

She even doubted they could mend their relationship/friendship to what it once was.

However, that was actually the last of Sonoko’s worries at the moment. She clearly remembered Shinichi-kun’s poor state the day before, how even if he was trying to conceal it, his headache was really taking a toll on him, and that, coupled with what surely was a confrontation with Ran after the “Note” incident, was a perfect recipe to disaster.

She just hoped that the rumors involving corpses falling from the sky in front of Shinichi-Kun were not actually right on top of everything else.

And then there was Ran. Ran who came to school with really big bags under her eyes, with the remnants of worry crossing her pretty face and an absent expression from her body language.

Sonoko’s worry increased tenfold when Ran told her that the reason behind her strange behavior was that Conan-Kun got horribly sick the day before at school, so bad that her father had to go fetch him and bring him home unconscious. “He did not wake up until past midnight, and after that I was too worried to sleep easily”

When Sera-chan came with the news that apparently Kudo-Kun called in sick earlier, Sonoko’s worry grew even more, to the point of even thinking of paying a visit to the Kudo Manor just to make sure her friend was aright.

_“Since when do I worry this much about that Detective Dork?”_

Filing that thought for later, she decided to try and pay attention to her classes; if it came to it she could drop by the Manor later on the day.

 

* * *

 

 

A murder.

Shinichi was not even surprised, and by the looks of it, neither was Conan. It was not Shinichi’s first time out of the manor and if he thinks about it, this was bound to happen sooner or later.

It also happened in a rather typical fashion. They were peacefully walking along the shopping streets, looking for things and items they would like to get for their new place, maybe some extra furniture, kitchen items or a new coffee maker when they decided to go inside a department store. They were walking aimlessly, heading to the place where kitchen appliances were held when a curling scream was heard above everything else.

Instinct overtook them and before any of them knew, they were running to where the scream came from: The changing rooms of the men section where a man was strangled to death with a tie.

Suppressing a sigh, and after telling the store’s staff to block all entrances and to please call the police, both him and Conan began to look around the murder scene.

This was not how he was intending to spend the afternoon.

 

* * *

 

 

There were weird things, and then there was this.

The call reporting a murder was a sadly common affair. When they told him that the call was from a department store, the first thing he thought was that surely in some way Mouri Kogoro was involved in the discovery of the body and as such was surely looking around the murder scene and throwing silly deductions before the police arrived and he started his sleeping detective act.

When he and the rest of the officers assigned to the case arrived, he almost felt like his suspicions were confirmed.

“Conan-kun! Are you here with Mouri? Where can I find him?”

“Megure-keibu, Hi! No, I am here with Shinichi-niisan instead. But you can find him over there by the tie racks!”

The news that Shinichi-kun was back surprised him for a couple of seconds. He then decided that this was a good development because with him here, it meant that there were not going to be delays and that the case would be solved easily enough. Looking back at where he last saw Conan, he was taken aback as to what the kid was doing. Apparently, he was looking for something on the floor, though judging by his serious expression, he supposed it was some kind of errand Shinichi-kun gave him to help along the case.

The exact same expression was planted in Shinichi’s face once he found it. It was times like this when he remembered just how uncanny their resemblances were. Putting that aside, he proceeded to greet the teen and at the same time introduce him to the officers that were not familiar with him after his long absence from Beika.

Some of them were awed. Some others were wary.

By the end of the day, some were still wary… but most of them were freaked out.

As predicted, the case took almost no time to get solved. The murderer was found, the proofs were laid out and the reason behind the murder was revealed. It was all made with extreme accuracy and efficiency, but what freaked the police officers was the display both Conan and Shinichi made to uncover the murderer.

They said it was as if they were one brain split into two bodies. And he was bound to agree with them.

Where one stopped, the other continued, when one made a reference, the other showed the proof of said reference. It was like a well-rehearsed play, where they were aware of their roles and the entrance of their dialogs… even if this could not have been the case.

The creepiest part was when, after everything got sorted out and they were taking the culprit into custody, both boys turned around to look at him and, with the same expression asked to keep Shinichi-kun’s involvement a secret.

The stunned faces both boys sported when they realized that they said the same thing at the same moment was strange indeed; like they did not plan on the other actually saying it, coming as a surprise when he did. It was strange, but then… everything about that evening had been strange so Megure Juuzo simply decided to not dwell on it and mind his own business for the moment.

He would have time to reflex on the evening when paperwork for the case was done.

 

* * *

 

 

Her day was really tiring.

She pretended that she did not hear all the rumors that were going around the school, tried not to think just how false they were and how much they actually affected her. Shinichi and she were actually on really bad terms and even if nobody actually knew, she would really appreciate it if they minded their own business for once.

 So when the day finally ended, Ran was more than glad to go back home so she could forget that the day actually happened.

When she reached the front door of the agency, and was met with apparent silence from the other side, she feared that it was going to be a repeat of the day before. However, once inside, she spotted her father who was sitting on his chair and watching some horse race with the TV On mute. She thought it was strange, but sometimes her father made strange things just because he felt like it.

She greeted with as much cheer as she could muster, telling him that she was going to start to prepare supper. Just as she was headed towards the kitchen upstairs, her father stopped her in her tracks with a single phrase.

“Wait a minute Ran, we need to talk.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And now... the excuses.
> 
> That are not really excuses, it is just that whoever though teaching was easy, surely didn't know what it was about.
> 
> Anyway, I hope you liked this Chapter. I'd love to hear your opinions.
> 
> For those who left me kind words, thank you. You actually made me smile.
> 
> and for those who left feedback, thank you. I always strive to get better!
> 
> see you soon!


	12. Rumours

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I should say sorry for the delay... but instead i present you with a new (and i think enlightening) chapter.
> 
> see you on the end Notes!

When her father told her that they needed to talk, for a moment Ran feared that her parents were finally divorcing for good, and the envelopes bearing her mother’s Law firm signature on the desk were not helping her wild imagination either.

A close look at her father revealed that whatever they were about to talk about was a serious matter, and that he was not exactly sure of how to breach the subject with her.

Truth was, she was not exactly sure if the actual topic of their conversation was better or worse.

Inside the envelope was a copy of the adoption papers of one Edogawa Conan, who was now officially part of the Kudou family as the youngest son of Kudo Yuusaku and Yukiko, as stated by the will of his now late parents. Because of this, Conan would be moving out of their house to go live with his new family, or in this case Shinichi while his parents sorted out their business elsewhere.

 “Does Shinichi know about this? Does Conan?”

“According to Eri, they haven’t informed the kid about it yet, however the older brat delivered this himself earlier today. He is taking the boy away by the weekend.”

For a moment, Ran didn’t know what to do or how to react. She felt a strange numbness take over her feelings and thoughts, still not really processing the information her father must gave her.

It wasn’t until several hours later when it finally sunk. Her suspicions were horribly wrong, Shinichi could not be Conan, and now, he was about to loose both of them.                                     

“Conan is leaving… and he is leaving with Shinichi, not because of him…”

 

* * *

 

That night there was not the usual hot meal waiting for the inhabitants of the agency. Instead, Kogorou decided to order take out from the café down stairs and be done with the topic.

When Conan tried to ask about his Ran-Neechan’s whereabouts Kogoro simply said that she was not feeling well and to please do not disturb her. There was something in his eyes that looked almost like pleading for him not to pry further, so he decided not to press the matter and leave her alone.

He absently thought that, if something was really wrong, Uncle Kogorou would tell him. And if not, he could always ask Sonoko about the problem.

 

* * *

 

There were a lot of things Shinichi did not expect to happen in his life and that somehow still happened. There were some really serious, like his encounter with Gin and the Apoptoxin, his first meeting with Ran or even befriending Hattori. There were others like stumbling over corpses or crime scenes with a certain regularity o even been the object of a Prank from the Kaitou Kid.

Being suddenly surrounded by the High School’s Soccer team that particular morning was now among those completely unexpected things.

In hindsight, he should have expected it; not that long ago, he managed to break a deal with the principal so he could continue his studies without having to repeat the year he technically lost. A win with the soccer team was part of said deal.

The team however was not exactly approaching him because of that. Yes, they were told about the deal and what it entailed. They simply decided to make Shinichi’s involvement a bit more… permanent.

Once again, they were asking him (or more like almost begging him) to join the Soccer Team.

Shinichi was about to refuse (again) to be part of the team, still firmly believing that he only needed the exercise to have a way to stay fit. The words were about to leave his lips when he abruptly closed his mouth again.

He still had the problem with the organization, something he was hopping to solve sooner rather than later, and he still was not that interested in a competitive sport like this. But then, he remembered just how good it was to play even for a bit without a care with the detective boys and the sense of camaraderie he got every time they celebrated a win that he decided that it might not be a bad idea to try it now again.

A couple of credits that could help him apply to a better College once high school ended were what sweetened the deal.

“I can’t give you a definite ‘yes’, especially since there are a lot of things I still have to solve, but I would like to train with you again. Think we could work around it somehow?”

 

* * *

 

“So… Rumour has it that a certain detective geek decided to humour the Soccer Team”

Any other day, he would have been dreading to hear that tone in Sonoko’s voice, a tone that only conveyed an eagerness for fresh gossip and opportunities to tease him mercilessly. It was the exact tone she used every time she made fun of him and Ran saying they acted as an “old married couple”

Today however, was not the case.

Yes, the tone did imply a need for fresh gossip, but the fact that for once Ran was not included with the tease made things less awkward and more like the start of friendly banter.

Shinichi’s morning just kept getting weirder by the minute.

Still, it was a somewhat welcome change.

“I did, we decided to give it a go and try to work around my strange schedule and penchant for disappearances”.

“Strange Schedule? More like ‘Crime Magnet Tendencies’, Shinichi-kun!” They kept bantering for a few more minutes, while walking towards the classrooms; it was a welcome relief and a shift in their usual interactions but none of them seemed to mind the change that much.

Once near what was their usual classroom, Shinichi remembered the last thing the principal told him when he was accepted again. He was not joining again his old class; he would have to join another one since a transfer girl was already using his place.

 A transfer girl by the name of Sera Masumi.

It was almost as if fate decided to give him the closest thing to a fresh start as he could get.

“I think here is where we part ways, Sonoko”; at her puzzled expression, he hastily explained that in order to return to school, he had to be placed into a different class.

“I’ll be in the classroom next door, so don’t think you’ll get rid of me”

“As if we were that lucky!”

Smiling briefly to each other, they parted ways, hopping the day would continue being this simple.

 

* * *

 

True to her word, Koizumi kept an eye on Kuroba-Kun, still intrigued and still sort of worried about his strange changes.

The first days of Kuroba-Watching bared her no results aside from creeping Kuroba out and getting weird looks from Nakamori-kun. The strange energy coming out of him was still there, neither increasing nor disappearing, and his presence was still strange.

Still, she kept observing. Until one day, her observations gave her something else to look at, something that, had she blinked in that exact moment, she would have missed it.

There was a red spike of energy coming from his usually bright aura. A red spike that somehow called out to her own red magic, but that was so inherently enrooted in his aura that looked almost as part of it.

Had she not known his aura previously, she would have thought just that too.

“Certainly, this is something that needs further observation!”

The loud laugh that followed her inner musings only managed to creep out even more her object of study.

 

* * *

 

Rumours at school started to emerge as soon as everybody noticed Shinichi’s Change of class. Once the students also noticed how neither Ran nor Shinichi were exactly on speaking terms the Rumor mill went into overdrive. Theories about a messy break up were the most popular; infidelity was a close second along with the one stating that Shinichi was now married to someone else.

Outrageous, some would say. Ridiculous were some other’s answer.

But since neither party was wiling to talk about it, everybody at Teitan High was left wondering.

And this was just the first day. Ran could only hope that everything will go back to normal by next week.

It was finally lunch time for her class and she decided she didn’t was to stay inside the building for it, so after finding a somewhat secluded tree, she started to each her admittedly poor lunch.

She still was not in the best mind state to cook elaborate things, a fact that her father seemed to have caught that morning as well as last night too. To be completely honest, the shock of Shinichi’s Return, Conan’s eventual departure and how she was now at odd with who she once considered her best male friend (and somewhat love interest) put a huge strain into her nerves.

Now, a bit isolated from the rest of the world, she was able to start putting her thoughts together and find a semblance of coherence and order.

Her mind drifted immediately to the most recent events. Ran knew for a fact that Conan was not going to live forever with her; she internally knew, even before she started to suspect that he was in fact Shinichi, that one day he would have to leave her behind to go to wherever her parents were. After she suspected him, she knew that Conan would have to leave for Shinichi to Return.

So… why did his departure hit her that much?

Maybe it was because she got really attached to him. Maybe because she really liked the idea of someone calling her Neechan, someone to care about as a big sister… something she could never have since her parents were not exactly on speaking terms.

They loved each other that much was clear, but she was starting to realize that for them, love was not enough.

And speaking of love…

She could easily admit at least to herself that she love Shinichi, had loved him for a while now, and possibly would love him for a long time more. But… she was not exactly sure she really wanted to pursue a relationship with him anymore.

She loved his quirks, and his talks of Holmes and the passion and determination he displayed while solving a crime/mystery. But she could no longer stand his absences, his secrets and his lies. She was really tired of worrying about him and his recklessness and she was tired of not knowing what was going on with him.

And honestly, his confession in London was more than startling.

She didn’t saw that coming, but she would be a liar if she said that it didn’t get her hopes up. It made her thought that maybe, just maybe they actually had a chance at being together.

 But then, all the doubts came crashing back again. She remembered their ‘date’ at the fancy restaurant and how he left without a word, she remembered their day at Tropical Land and how he vanished without a word… hell just moments before that confession he lied to her about his whereabouts.

She loved him, yes. But maybe, just like with her parents love was not enough anymore.

“Besides… I actually like spending time together with Soichiro-kun”

Omori Soichiro was a guy from Haido High; he was a friend of Kyogoku- San and at Sera-chan’s insistence, she agreed on going out on a date with him a couple months ago.

It was a blind date organized by both Sonoko and Masumi one day that she was moping more than was normal. She was reluctant, and she expected a really awkward outing with a guy she had nothing in common.

Instead she had a really enjoyable date. Soichiro was a really funny guy, Captain of the Kendo Team of his school and overall someone who was a really interesting talk.

The fact that he was easy on the eyes helped her somewhat too.

She was reluctant, but with a bit of nudging from Sera-chan, and she agreed to a second date. And to a third. And to many more after that.

Though… now that she thinks about it… why did Sera encourage her that much? And why did she say that it would be better to keep a low profile on her dates for the time being? Not even Sonoko was aware of them, and she used to tell her everything.

Because… seeing things like this, she kind of understands Shinichi’s outburst.

The bell that announced the end of her Lunch Time started to ring; a low breeze carrying the scent of wet soil and flowers drifted near her and she new that even if everything was looking grim right now, that she would find a way to set things right again.

Gathering her things and walking again towards her building, her only thought was “I need to really talk to Shinichi”

* * *

 

Inside a police station, unnoticed by the people that worked there, a small note addressed to the Kid Task Force was left on Inspector Nakamori’s Desk.

A quiet laugh was heard on the hallway, but nobody that was currently there knew where it came from.

However they quickly forgot about it when a loud yell of “Kid! You bastard!” made the windows rattle dangerously.

A new heist note was found.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So... about the delay. I'm actually sorry i took this long to update, i swear i started this months ago but i changes schools and i'm still getting used to the system they use here.
> 
> but i hope that future updates won't take me this long.
> 
> anyway, lots of Ran but not much Kaito. Either way i hope you liked it.
> 
> i wouuld love to hear from you!


	13. Preparations

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I Can't believe it took me almost 6 months to update...  
> No, actually, I can. these were... not my best time but hopefully I'm not taking this long to update again.
> 
> Please, enjoy the chapter.

The moment the news of the new heist notice’s arrival became official, every single officer, detective or administrative worker at Division Three breathed a sigh of relief.

Contrary to popular belief, Division Three did not enjoy Nakamori-keibu’s constant rants and shouts regarding the “Dirty Thief”, nor did they enjoy the usual ridicule they suffer every time the thief appears, just to escape from their grasp every single time; in fact, members of this particular police division are the ones using the ENT and Psychological part of their insurance with more frequency, in part because of the keibu and partly because of the things they have to face thanks to the thief.

This time however, every single member of said division was utterly glad to hear the beginnings of the infamous rant, glad to know a new heist notice was delivered, but above everything else, they were glad to indirectly know their thief was O.K.

Officially, the report made after the last heist had to include, aside from the regular things like time and place of the heist and gem targeted, the shooting, the bullets found, the apparent target and if said target was hit or not. The report was almost clinical, not giving more details than necessary, and showing a level of detachment that very few people would believe the task force capable of.

Inwards though, every single officer was worried the thief had been seriously injured, or possibly death. Some of them even, in a not so subtly manner, tried to sneak around Division One, looking for murdered or injured people near that date, and that showed signs of being shot near the chest.

The shouting continued for another 5 minutes before the inspector threw open the doors. Looking left and right to see who was nearby, he started to give instructions to everybody on sight. Soon, everybody had a task to complete, maybe investigating jewels, looking for strange references, metaphors about almost every word contained in the note and even history books trying to match whatever findings to some other thing through time.

It was going to be a really long night, but for the first time in a very long time, everybody at Division Three was content with it.

* * *

 

Generally, whenever the newscast announces that a new heist notice had been delivered, Kuroba could be seen scouring every newsfeed to see how it was received, speculation of the media, random ideas thrown by the police, the detectives or any random person, or just to see if there is any declaration from someone claiming they would stop him this time (ahem, ahem, old man Jirokichi, ahem…)

Usually, you could see Kuroba’s undivided attention on his phone, reading and browsing and searching, or you could see him laughing maniacally over a note on the newspaper, sometimes you could even see him writing something on the side, be it on a notebook or somewhere else.

Now, the sight that welcomed Hakuba when he entered the classroom, was completely discordant with previous post-heist notice announcement behavior.

Kuroba was chatting amicably with Aoko and Keiko, making jokes about one thing or another, making fun of someone on the background, irritating the girl and even sort of flirting with a girl two rows behind.

There was no phone outside, nor newspaper, suspicious notes… nothing. In fact, Kuroba seemed to be completely oblivious of the fact that a new Heist Notice had just been published.

Which, could not be the case because, Kuroba was KID, Right?

But then, it could be the case that Kuroba was not the one sending the note, it would not be the first time a double attempted to steal the spotlight from the real KID, using his name and modus operandi to make real heinous crime and try to get away with it.

Which could actually be the case, and if so, Saguru was really curious to discover what would be Kuroba’s reaction to it. With that in mind, he decided to approach.

Kuroba, Aoko and Keiko were still talking about whatever they’ve been talking before, though it seemed that particular topic was short lived, since once he was in hearing range he heard Kuroba say something about colors that sent Aoko into a rampage, chasing Kuroba across the classroom with her trustworthy mop in hand.

Saguru approached with caution, wary of being on the receiving end of the infamous mop, but still advancing towards both the area of the conflict and his desk. Once every calmed down, he proceeded to inform Kuroba about the new heist notice.

And all he got in return was a blank stare and the words “oh, I already know about it!!” which was… disconcerting.

There was no hidden rage or even a bit of shock of being informed about a heist notice he did not write. The glint of amusement that usually follows any KID statement he made, was also missing. It was as if, overnight, Kuroba stopped being KID and was now just a simple fan following rather loosely his idol’s steps.

Something was wrong, but Saguru was not sure what.

He would need to investigate a bit more.

* * *

 

 

Unknown to him, a certain Phantom Thief was cracking up with laughter after seeing Hakuba’s reaction to his counterpart’s lack of it.

Said counterpart was laughing inside for the same reason. Though he needed to keep appearances.

 

* * *

 

“The gem targeted this time, is a rather big, blue, translucent Apatite that is being exhibited at one of the top galleries at Mori Tower back in Tokyo.

The Gem also known as “The Sky Prayer” is part of a traveling set of blue stones, thought we suppose that since the other ones are opaque or too small they didn’t get the Thief’s interest.

The exhibition will only be in town for a week more, since they are expected to travel next to Osaka and then to Korea, so we suppose the actual date of the heist should be during this coming week”

The information was being relayed to Nakamori-Keibu by one of his officers, who in turn was designated by the rest of the division to tell him the good but still incomplete news.

They still were not able to solve the entirety of the note, though compared to other heists, this time they were able to crack a good portion of it before any upstart teenage or child detective could interfere.

If they were lucky, they would be able to completely solve it before the day was over. Before anyone else could.

Because KID was their thief. They were the only ones allowed to arrest him, to catch him, pursue him, not blonde detectives, or nosy children, or rich old men or strange snipers from nearby buildings.

The preliminary report continued for another couple of minutes, which included some proposed escape routes, security issued inside the Mori Tower, the expected weather for the following week and some other details that the Officers thought would be useful for their boss.

A boss that looked both proud and surprised.

A boss that, instead of going on with the usual rant about catching the thief, this time congratulated his officer and the teamwork behind the report.  A boss whose voice leaked of smugness of a work well done and that was eager to brag about the great work his division was doing to the upper heads.

With a “keep up the good work, because this time for sure We are getting the thief” the officer was dismissed, and Nakamori-Keibu was left alone with his thoughts and the written report of what was informed.

A couple hours later, the complete heist note was being cracked: 22:36 of Next Sunday, at Mori Tower, Tokyo, the Phantom Thief Kid would attempt to steal the Apatite known as “The Sky Prayer”

Report that was delivered to the higher ups minutes before a certain blonde detective came to the police department, fresh out of school, with the answer ready to the Keibu.

* * *

 

Kaito must admit that having a phantom clone was extremely useful.

Not only he could cover the double amount of work for a heist in half the time, but it also let him have an alibi that was not circumstantial or based on perfectly timed disappearances.

Better yet, since his clone was able to appear and disappear at will, he was able to sneak in places where Kaito usually wouldn’t or couldn’t, making him gather information all the more easy.

He could also stalk… observe people more easily.

Currently the clone was stationed at police Headquarters, specifically at Division Three, watching them loose their heads trying to solve his note as quickly as possible. He watched them make progress, and was amused with all the antics he had been missing in the behind the scenes of preparing for a heist.

He also felt proud of them when they finally succeeded.

It was not a small feat, since he always made his riddles complicated enough so the wrong people wouldn’t crack them before it was time, so the fact that the officers were able to crack it without external help was a huge step for them.

Mentally communicating with his counterpart, Kaito and KID discussed the possibility of increasing the police involvement in taking Snake’s Organization. The division was finally showing signs of improvement, and if things continued as such, maybe they could be more active in his mission, instead of just being on the sidelines.

This however was not something that should be rushed. The fact that this time they finally managed to work as a Unit instead of headless chickens was not an insurance that it would continue as such, for all he knows, this could be an exception, getting back to the starting point for the next Heist.

Even so, it would be a good idea to start considering it.

Maybe… maybe he should pay the Meitanteis a visit, a different set of allies and a different insight into the Police inner works was always good.

* * *

 

 The surveillance of the place where the heist would be held was done by the Phantom Clone. This served as both the beginnings of an alibi and as an excuse to roam freely while invisible.

Hakuba was there, along with the rest of the officers from Division Three, scouting the place, talking with the owners of the gems and in general trying to come with strategies to halt the thief’s advance.

KID was both amused and impressed.

Amused at Hakuba’s still surprised face at not being able to crack the riddle before the police. He, several days later was still grumbling on how that was not possible or if maybe he was losing his edge. Even more so, he was often left speechless every time the division proposed something he was considering to propose or even execute himself.

He was impressed at the thoughtfulness the Division was showing regarding the whole event. They were not only looking to increase security around the gem as usual, but they were also looking for exits, recognition methods and even surrounding buildings that could be relevant to the heist.

This was mostly, as KID overheard, because they wanted to avoid another Snipper incident.

KID kept walking around them, remaining unnoticed and hearing their plans, strategies and discussion. He also kept looking at everything that was on display and at things that he deemed interesting enough to observe.

When Aoko arrived at the Tower to get her father some food as usual, KID couldn’t help snickering at Hakuba’s face at not seeing Kaito tagging along. Hakuba knew that Kaito usually went to the heist sites with Aoko to gather Intel, to hear and observe what the officers were planning, and even to tamper with the traps set by the Police.

Not seeing him there seemed to have shocked Hakuba again…. For the umpteenth that week.

“Maybe we should tone down Hakuba’s pranks for the week…” was what both Kaito and KID thought at seeing him, “Or maybe not!” was the immediate answer at their own consideration.

With a smirk in place, KID kept surveilling and observing, while Kaito worked on some lessons he missed from past heists.

* * *

 

The day before the Heist, Akako finally broke.

Lucifer had not being as forthcoming as usual, telling her that something changed, that something might be messing with his powers because every time he looked into Kuroba Kaito’s Future, it was always divided into a regular existence and one that faded and appeared inconsistently.

Lucifer also remarked onto how there was a strange red halo around both of those futures.

Akako asked to see this halo, at which Lucifer reluctantly complied. Shocked was Akako to find that this halo was similar to the red tint she had noticed spiking out of Kuroba’s Aura.

That red energy that resonated strongly with her red magic and that suddenly appeared after what was supposed to be a failed heist. An energy that no matter where she searched, she was unable to come up with an explanation.

So, finally, she decided to ask him herself.

Finding a moment where he was alone was not an easy thing, since he usually was with Nakamori-kun or playing pranks to someone inside the classroom, however, a rare opportunity presented itself during a break after noon.

Strangely enough, he was alone at the rooftop, in what appeared to be a deep contemplation of something… or given the sudden smirks that appeared in his face, the next prank he would subject his classmates next.

“Kuroba-kun”

A startled gasp escaped him, at which Akako couldn’t help but smile. Is seemed that, no matter what changed, she was still able to surprise him.

“Hey, Koizumi” was the only thing that came from him which left a rather strange silence settle between them.

She joined him at the fence, looking over the school grounds. After a couple of minutes, she finally said “Something changed in you, Kuroba-kun. And I´m curious to know how that happened”

“Shouldn’t you ask you ‘loyal servant’ about it then? I was under the impression that he knew all the answers to your questions”

When no more words came from her, Kaito was about to head back to the building, however Akako was not done satiating her curiosity so she suddenly summoned a flare of her powers to her hand, in hopes of making Kuroba’s energy to flare against it.

And it didn’t disappoint.

Kuroba’s entire soul lit a bright red, so bright that even for the untrained eye it was visible, pulsing in time with the energy around her hand.

Kuroba seemed to feel it, letting out a gasp and looking at him completely bewildered. Akako turned her eyes on him, asking him again what happened and how did he got himself entangled with this red energy.

“To be honest Koizumi, I am not really sure”

“I might be able to delve into it further if you allow it, maybe even determine if this energy could harm or benefit you further from whatever it already changed in you”

“And what exactly would be your price…? I’m not falling in love with you, and you know it, so what will it be?”

“Just this time, to be able to satiate my curiosity might be enough”

“Let me think about it, o.k.?”

 Koizumi was the one to attempt to leave this time, since apparently no more words were needed between them. Just before she stepped out of the rooftop, Kaito asked “Hey Koizumi, if I were to accept your help, can I bring someone else too?”

A nod of her head and a low chuckle was the only answer she gave, leaving Kuroba alone with his thoughts and musings.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> No Shinichi this time, though he will appear the next one again.
> 
> Complains? Rants? suggestions?


End file.
